Lewis and Clark: "We send from this place with dispatches"
Through the often dreary winter the explorers successfully
established a facility for deriving salt from seawater, traveled
south to obtain oil and blubber from a whale carcass beached on
the Oregon coast, hunted, traded with the wily Clatsops and
other nearby Indians, and sewed replacements for their worn and
moldy buckskin clothing. Lewis spent much time studying and
writing about geography, the plant and animal inhabitants of the
area, and Indian culture. Clark's vitally important contribution
was the completion of his map covering the territory from Fort
Mandan to the Pacific. This, combined with his earlier map of
the lower Missouri, provided an unprecedented view of western
America. The captains' respective endeavors were marked by
collaborative, lengthy discussions of what they had seen and
learned from the numerous Indian tribes and from the lands and
waters they had traversed. As the winter days lengthened, every
resident of Fort Clatsop beca