Camp Dubois, Illinois

Clark drew the area surrounding Camp Dubois in his field notes.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale

Quick Facts

Location:

Camp where William Clark and most of the expedition members spent the winter of 1803–1804 preparing for the journey. Meriwether Lewis went back and forth from Cahokia and St. Louis, where he was gathering information for the journey.

Significance:

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

Designation:

William Clark and many of the men who joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1803–1804 just east of St. Louis, at Camp Dubois.

MANAGED BY:

Lewis and Clark State Historic Site

Amenities

11 listed

Benches/Seating, Gifts/Souvenirs/Books, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Parking - Bus/RV, Picnic Shelter/Pavilion, Restroom, Restroom - Accessible, Restroom - Family, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Wheelchair Accessible

“The mouth of the River Dubois is to be considered as the point of departure.”—Meriwether Lewis, May 14, 1804

On a cold December day in 1803, William Clark and the expedition’s recruits set about clearing land and cutting logs for their winter camp. The party spent five months at Camp Dubois making final preparations for their long journey up the Missouri River.  

Clark chose the site, on the east side of the Mississippi River at its confluence with the Missouri, in part to fulfill treaty obligations. Conditions of the Louisiana Purchase required Lewis and Clark to remain within American territory until the land officially transferred from France to the United States on March 10, 1804. The location was also convenient to St. Louis and Cahokia Courthouse. Today, the exact location of the camp is unknown due to shifts in the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. 

Clark spent most of the winter at Camp Dubois supervising and training the recruits. His journals frequently mention French and Indigenous people stopping at Camp Dubois. They sometimes brought meat or other provisions to trade. Often they stayed and exchanged stories about communities upriver.  

Lewis spent much of the winter in St. Louis, meeting with fur traders and others who had experience on the Upper Missouri.  

In the late afternoon of May 14, 1804, Clark and forty-one men set out from Camp Dubois. Curious onlookers along the riverbank may have watched the keelboat and two pirogues (a type of canoe) depart. They would have been accustomed to seeing vessels traveling up and down the Missouri. Did they know the political significance of this diplomatic mission of colonization? Did they have any idea of what it would mean for the Indigenous people who lived along the Missouri and beyond? 

Lewis and Clark NHT Visitor Centers and Museums

Visitor Centers (shown in orange), High Potential Historic Sites (shown in black), and Pivotal Places (shown in green) along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail