The Lewis & Clark Expedition Across Missouri

On June 10, 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed the site of present-day Glasgow, 225 miles from the mouth of the Missouri, as it struggled upstream through swift currents, floating debris from two days of rain, and collapsing banks that carried large cottonwood trees into the river. After a perilous encounter the previous day near today's Richland Creek, William Clark wrote with confidence in the party's skill on the water. Above the future site of Glasgow, the expedition reached the two Chariton Rivers, a major confluence where Clark knew the Big Chariton could be navigated by pirogues for a great distance and where Meriwether Lewis halted the party for an hour and a half to make observations with his scientific instruments. Farther upstream, the expedition waited at an island for hunters on shore while swarms of mosquitoes plagued the men, then moved on past a large island Clark called Sheeco or Shecco and camped on the south side at the edge of a prairie. As the Corps of Discovery moved beyond the familiar flora and fauna of the eastern woodlands into extensive prairies, Clark found rich land, plentiful water, timbered points, hazel, grapes, superior wild plums, and great numbers of deer, and despite the exhausting river, constant rain, and insects, the party remained in high spirits.

Glasgow, Missouri · United States