My favorite Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center thus far is the one in Sioux City. It is complete with lifelike talking figures and focuses on some of the interesting things that the Expedition experienced in and around Sioux City.
The first of many meetings between Lewis and Clark and top Indian chiefs took place in or near present day Sioux City. Technically the first encounter with Indians was with some lower ranking Indians of the Oto-Missouri tribes in Council Bluffs on August 3, 1804. Lewis and Clark urged them to summon the top chiefs to the meeting, but they were out hunting buffalo and didn't care to be bothered to come back for a meeting. So Lewis and Clark went through a dress rehearsal with the lower ranking Indians. The meeting did not go well.
Lewis went through his stock talking points, one of which was that the U.S. had purchased the land on which they were living and the "great white father" (i.e., President Jefferson) wanted there to be peace among tribes and between Indians and white settlers.
It appears to have been largely one-way communication, but Clark made it clear in his journal that the Indians in attendance were not happy with the "peace' medallions and other gifts bestowed upon them by Lewis and Clark. One of the gifts given to most or all of the Indians in attendance was a paper "certificate of good behavior," that one Indian tore up in apparent disgust.
Lewis repeated the spiel a couple of weeks later, on August 19, with the chiefs after they returned from hunting buffalo. The reaction was similarly negative, but the disappointment may have been more with the gifts than the messages.
Coincidentally about the time of the second meeting with the chiefs, a deserter, Pvt. Moses Reed, was apprehended by a search party dispatched by Lewis and Clark and returned to camp. Reed apparently felt he had had enough. One night he stole a rifle and some ammunition and took off. Upon his caputure he was court martialed and found guilty of desertion.
Over the objections of the Indians, who did not believe in corporal punishment, Reed was sentenced to walking the gauntlet four times, meaning his fellow soldiers formed two parallel lines and pummeled him as he walked between them. While that seems cruel by today's standards, I guess it was not unusual. After all, he could have been sentenced to death.
I imagine that the execution of this punishment, dissatisfaction with the gifts, and a patronizing message combined to make a poor first impression on the Indians.
Speaking of desertion, I want to make it clear that I am not deserting this journey. But my wedding anniversary is on Friday, my son graduates from college (On Wisconsin!) on Saturday, and Mother's Day is Sunday. This seems to be a good weekend for me to go home for a break! I am leaving my bicycle and gear with a Warm Showers host and am renting a car in Sioux City so I can return to Minnesota for a few days.
See you next week!
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