Sergeants of the Expedition

Sergeant Nathaniel Pryor was a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. He was well respected and performed his duties with success and honor.

Patrick Gass and John Ordway, important members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, were both recruited at Fort Kaskaskia.

In the spring of 1807, David McKeehan, who owned and operated a book and stationary store in Pittsburgh, convinced Patrick Gass to let him publish the first journal of the Expedition. As such, McKeehan released a prospectus of the forthcoming book in the April 28, 1807 edition of the Pittsburgh Gazette (see far left column).

This small, carved-wood box is believed to be a razor case of Patrick Gass. Descendants of the sergeant inherited it with the story that it had been created and given to him by Sacagawea in 1805.

Patrick Gass, the last living member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, died here in 1870. He is buried in Brooke Cemetery.

Of all the men of the Corps, most people have the highest regard for Sergeant John Ordway – he’s often viewed as being reliable, dependable, confident, and admirable. So the story of his life after the Expedition is truly heartbreaking.

Anne Ordway must have raised her son John to take care of his chores and schoolwork in a timely manner, as on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, John Ordway is the only journal writer that recorded an entry for every single day of the expedition. This beats the record of even William Clark, another steady and more famous member of the Corps of Discovery. In addition to his conscientious journal keeping, John Ordway took several opportunities to write to his “Honored Parence.”

Assigned as sergeant in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Pryor should have kept a journal during the voyage, but it has never been found. What was Pryor's life after he retuned home from the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

Charles Floyd died near here on August 20, 1804. He was the only member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to die during the journey.

On August 19, the journal keepers all recorded that Floyd was very ill. During that day and night Floyd worsened to the point that Clark feared for his life. He stayed up most of the night with him but could do nothing for him. Clark wrote in his field notes that “I am Dull & heavy been up the greater Part of last night with Serjt. Floyd, who is a[s] bad as he can be…”

It’s most likely that the men of the Corps all brought their own weapons (pistols, rifles, knives) with them on the Expedition to use in addition to the ones provided by the U.S. Army.

Reuben Gold Thwaites is best known as the editor of “The Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition,” which was published in 1904-05 as an eight-volume set. But Thwaites is also known as the person who found and saved the original journal of Sergeant Charles Floyd, the only member of the Corps to die during the Expedition.

The Sergeant Floyd Monument commemorates Sergeant Charles Floyd, Jr., the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die on the journey. Writing in his diary on July 31st, Floyd noted, "I am verry sick and has ben for Sometime but have Recovered my helth again." However, this quick recovery was followed by a turn for the worse.

In Sioux City, Iowa, near the intersection of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa, stands the Sergeant Floyd River Museum and Welcome Center. The museum is nestled inside the retired M.V. Sergeant Floyd, a boat once used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The boat was named after Sergeant Charles Floyd of Kentucky, one of the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

When Charles Floyd died on August 20, 1804, the men of the Corps buried him on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, south of today’s Sioux City, Iowa. There’s no mention in the journals of how he was interred – obviously there wasn’t time to create a wooden coffin for his body. It’s likely he was wrapped in a blanket. But if you visit the Sioux City Public Museum, you’ll see this chunk of wood that is said to be a remnant of Sergeant Floyd’s casket.