Hunter, Watchdog and Faithful Friend

Seaman, Captain Meriwether Lewis' Newfoundland dog, was a valued member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Weighing 150 pounds, he leaped into the Ohio River at Lewis' command to catch squirrels swimming across in great numbers. Later, after an Expedition hunter wounded a deer that ran into the Missouri River, Seaman caught and drowned the deer and brought it to shore. In present-day Montana, his vigilance as a watchdog helped save lives when a grizzly bear stopped within 30 yards of the Expedition's campsite, and Lewis wrote, "My dog seems to be in a constant state of alarm with these bears and keeps barking all night." Most historians believe Seaman returned to St. Louis with the rest of the Corps of Discovery in 1806, since Lewis likely would have recorded the loss of such a faithful companion in his journal. For many years, scholars believed Lewis' dog was named "Scannon," but historian Donald Jackson studied the handwriting in Expedition journals and determined that the correct spelling was "Seaman."

Nebraska City, Nebraska · United States