B. He climbed a tree and waited for the bear to leave.
From the Library of Congress
Adapted by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are best known for their expedition from the Mississippi River to the West Coast and back. The expedition was called the Corps of Discovery. It was President Thomas Jefferson's project to explore the American West. It began in May of 1804 and ended in September 1806.
Before the expedition, Lewis was Jefferson's private presidential secretary. He also served in the military, where he met Clark. After the expedition, Lewis served a short term as governor of the Territory of Upper Louisiana before he died. Clark lived for many years after the trip and held different government positions. Among these positions were Superintendent of Indian Affairs and governor of the Missouri Territory. In June 1805, the Corps came upon a magnificent waterfall. Lewis was thrilled to see it. It was called the Great Falls of the Missouri. It was 900 feet wide and 80 feet high. The Great Falls had a "beautiful rainbow" just above the spray. Lewis called it "the grandest sight" he "ever beheld." More importantly, it meant that he and Clark had earlier chosen the correct fork in the Missouri River. Before they left, they had been talking with Native Americans about a water route across the West. The Native Americans had described the territory in detail. They talked about landmarks such as the waterfall in front of Lewis.
Now it was time for the portage. Portage means to carry goods around an obstacle. Lewis and Clark's expedition party needed to carry their canoes and supplies around the waterfall. Before they saw the Great Falls, Lewis and Clark thought the trip would be less than a mile. As Lewis scouted farther, he found four more waterfalls and realized that the journey would be much longer. The Corps would have to hike 18 miles to get around the five waterfalls. They left their heaviest boat and equipment hidden near the base of the falls. The other canoes and supplies were carried, dragged, and pushed. The Corps created makeshift wagons. When the wind was strong, they attached the boat sails to help move the equipment.
The ground was rocky, uneven, and hard. Prickly pear cactuses were everywhere. The Corps wore through their moccasins every two days. The intense heat of the summer sun was interrupted by violent storms, with thunder, rain, and hailstones the size of eggs. Swarms of gnats and mosquitoes pestered the travelers. Rattlesnakes and grizzly bears were a constant danger.
Finally, after nearly a month of hard labor, the portage was complete. The Corps and their equipment were on the other side of the falls. They built new boats to replace the one left behind. They continued their journey on the Missouri River on July 15, 1805. They were more than a month behind schedule but happy to be past the Great Falls. Their next challenge was to find horses. They had to make it over the Rocky Mountains! By August 1805, Lewis and Clark had been traveling for more than a year. They were looking for the Shoshone Indians.
They needed horses to cross the Rockies, and the Shoshone had them. Sacagawea was a member of the Corps. She was also a member of the Shoshone tribe. She had been kidnapped by another tribe, however, many years before.
The Corps were still recovering from their long journey around the Great Falls of the Missouri. Lewis and three men were scouting ahead when they finally met a band of Shoshone. The three men were the first white men the Shoshone had ever seen.
Lewis wanted the Shoshone to know that he and his men came in peace. He gave them gifts. He also used sign language, a few Shoshone words, and red paint to tell them he was peaceful. Red is the Shoshone color for peace. Luckily, the Shoshone band and their chief, Cameahwait, were convinced. They celebrated the peaceful meeting with hugs and shouts. They also smoked a peace pipe, as was the Shoshone custom. The Shoshone removed their moccasins to show their sincerity. Lewis explained that the Shoshone took off their shoes to say they would "always go barefoot if they are not sincere, a pretty heavy penalty if they are to march through the plains of their country." Lewis understood what they meant since the Corps had all hurt their feet on sharp rocks and prickly pear cactuses.
Although the Shoshone welcomed Lewis, they were suspicious. They had recently been raided by another tribe. When Lewis asked them to travel to meet the rest of his expedition party, the Shoshone worried that Lewis might be leading them into a trap. Eventually, Lewis convinced them. But when they got to the meeting place, Clark and the others had not yet arrived. So they waited.
The Shoshone were nervous. They didn't want to be attacked. Lewis was nervous. He had to get horses or the Corps wouldn't be able to finish their journey. If Clark and the others didn't show up soon, the Shoshone would leave and take their horses with them.
Finally, on August 17, 1805, the rest of the Corps arrived. Sacagawea and another member of the Corps were the first to see Lewis and the Shoshone. Sacagawea remembered the area as her home. She recognized this band of Shoshone as her people. In fact, Chief Cameahwait was her brother! Everyone celebrated this lucky event. They even named the meeting place Camp Fortunate. Now Lewis and Clark could continue their expedition with Shoshone horses. The Corps saw many bears on the journey. Grizzly bears can weigh over 900 pounds. One encounter is described by Lewis on May 5, 1805. A "most tremendous looking animal, and extreemly hard to kill," wrote Lewis in his journal. Clark described the grizzly as "verry large and a turrible looking animal." Clark and another member of the expedition fired 10 shots at it before it died.
Several tribes of Native Americans had told Lewis and Clark about grizzly bears. The tribes would attack these great bears only if there were six to 10 people in their hunting party. And even then, the bears would sometimes kill one of them. The first grizzlies Lewis saw during the expedition were two smaller bears. He and another hunter had easily killed one of them. That day, Lewis wrote in his journal that the Native Americans with their bows and arrows might have problems, but the grizzlies were no match for a skilled rifleman. He soon changed his mind. Later on the journey, Lewis was out scouting alone. It was June 15, 1805. He decided to make camp and shot a buffalo.
As he was watching the buffalo fall, a grizzly bear came rushing toward him. Lewis raised his gun to shoot. He then realized he had not reloaded his rifle. The bear was getting closer. There were no trees or bushes nearby, but there was a river. Lewis quickly ran into the water. The bear followed. When the bear saw Lewis in the water, for some unknown reason it stopped and ran in the other direction. Lewis was lucky. After that, he thought that members of the Corps should not go out alone. Even at camp, he thought they should sleep with their guns beside them in case of bear attacks.
Bears often chased members of the Corps. They would chase them through the woods, into bushes, and sometimes into the water. On July 15, 1806, Hugh McNeal was out alone on horseback. Suddenly, he saw a grizzly bear in the bushes.
His horse bucked and threw McNeal near the bear. The bear raised itself up to attack. What could McNeal do at such close range? He hit the bear with his gun. The bear was temporarily stunned and fell down. McNeal quickly climbed up a nearby tree. Because of their large size and straight claws, grizzly bears are not good tree climbers, so the bear waited at the base of the tree. And waited. And waited. Finally, just before dark, the bear gave up and left. McNeal climbed down and got back to camp safely.
By the end of the expedition, Lewis believed that the Corps had been very lucky not to lose anyone to a grizzly bear. He wrote that "the hand of providence has been most wonderfully in our favor What did Corps member Hugh McNeal do to save himself from a grizzly bear?
• A. He stabbed the bear through the neck with his bayonet.
• B. He climbed a tree and waited for the bear to leave.
C. He fell onto the ground and played dead for nearly two hours.
D. He dived into a river and went over a 20-foot-high waterfall.
1 answer