I have recently been delving into the history of the Columbia Gorge. For the most part I am interested in Native American history, not explorer history but to expand on my knowledge I tracked down a copy of the Lewis and Clark Journals. I thought this would come in handy given I wanted to learn more about Native American's in the area around the time they came through. Now, this is not the first time I have read the journals. (Or the edited version since you can't just buy the whole thing at one time). When I was in high school I took a class on Lewis and Clark. When we were reading the journals in school one part really stuck out to me and re-reading them tonight, I had the same interest.
During the trip Lewis had an iron boat made. This was of his own special design and was meant to be transportable and collapsible. It was also meant to float. However, in the end, it was only transportable and collapsible. It did not float. At least, not for very long. Granted, it wasn't really Lewis' fault. He couldn't have known that the trees he was counting on to complete the boat when it was needed would not be there. Guess that's the price you pay for entering uncharted territory. Since the boat did not float, they decided to bury it on July 9th 1805 in Great Falls, Montana.
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| Photo from France Hunter's American Hero's Blog. |
Now here's where the debate begins. On July 14th 1806, the boat was dug back up on the return home. Lewis noted that "the iron frame of the boat had not suffered materially." But beyond that there is no further mention of it. Thus, you now have several different camps of people who believe any number of things could have happened to it. The most popular theory is that they left it there in the cache. Unfortunately, to date, it has not be found. Even with extensive searches in the very area it was believed to be buried. Others believe that it was brought back with them. I mean, they dug it up didn't they. Why not bring it back? The journal's don't say that they left it, but then again, they don't say that they took it either. The other possibility is that local Native American's either saw them re-burying it or abandoning it all together and took it for their own use.
So here are my thoughts...please take them for what they are worth. This is all pure speculation. I am in the camp that they took it with them. For starters, the field where the boat would have been buried has been so worked over that if it were there, or if there were any remnants of it left, it would have been found by now. I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just saying it's not likely. As to the Native American theory...why wouldn't they have taken it and all the other cached goods when they were buried the first time? I just don't see this as being something they would care about or want to use.
I know that there are people who have studied what they brought back and they claim there is no indication the boat came back with them. Also, beyond it being dug up and the condition noted, it's never mentioned again. I don't think this should automatically discount the possibility that it came back with them. Here's why. Humans get pretty upset when their so called "brilliant ideas" don't exactly pan out the way they intended them to. If the members of the expedition thought that the boat was a failure based on it's performance, chances are, it would have been the last thing they wanted to talk about. I could just as easily see them packing the boat up and ignoring it for the rest of the trip, due to their bitterness towards it, as I could see them leaving it behind. But, the question to ask is, did they leave anything else behind? Lewis put a lot of time, effort, and energy into this project. I can't see him abandoning something he worked so hard on, even if it was a failure. I believe that they would have hauled it back, bitterness and all. But then again, this is all speculation. We can never know exactly what was brought back and what was left behind. For instance, what happened to all the other items in the cache that were ruined by the water? Did they leave them or take them? I am sure there are many other things that went missing along this trip that were not accounted for. It is definitely something that I would like to explore more in depth, even if the odds of finding it are slim to none.
What do you think happened to the iron boat?
Rachel B.
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