George Drouillard was a civilian interpreter for the Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery. The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806) was the first American overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back. ...

Biography

George Drouillard grew up in the Detroit River region, son of Pierre Drouillard and a Shawnee woman of the Flat Head sept named Asoundechris^[1]. His father Pierre was employed by the British Indian Department as an interpreter of the Huron language at the time of the Revolutionary War, and is credited with saving the life of Simon Kenton, a prisoner of the Indians at Sandusky, in 1778^[2]. The Shawnee, or Shawano, are a people native to North America. ... Simon Kenton Statue at Simon Kentons grave in Urbana, Ohio Simon Kenton (April 3, 1755 - April 29, 1836) was a famous United States frontiersman and friend of Daniel Boone. ...

Lewis and Clark

George Drouillard, a hunter, trapper, cartographer, and a master of many languages (Indian as well as French and English) was hired by Captain Lewis for the expedition into the newly acquired Louisiana Territory in early 1804. Lewis, who referred to him as "Drewyer," praised him in six elk a day and one day he killed eleven elk^[3]. Hunting was the main food supply for the group at the fort since they could not farm and had no trade with the local tribes. The United States in 1810, following the Louisiana Purchase. ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Meriwether Lewis, portrait by Charles Willson Peale Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Corps of Discovery, whose mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase. ...

Drouillard was one of the non-military members of the Corps to complete the Lewis and Clark Expedition from Camp Dubois to the Pacific Ocean and back. Lewis and Clark The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806) was the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back. ... Camp Dubois, near present day Hartford, Illinois, served as the winter camp for the Lewis and Clark Expedition from December 12, 1803 to May 14, 1804. ...

Post-expedition

With John Potts and Peter Weise, who were also on the Lewis & Clark expedition, Drouillard traveled back up the Missouri River in 1807 as part of an expedition led by Manuel Lisa. During the winter of 1807-1808 he traveled the lands of the Crow Indians, and gave the information he had gleamed from the Crow to the knowledge of western lands. In 1809 he joined the Missouri Fur Company, in which after he failed to return one day during the expedition, a search party found his remains, severely mangled by an Indian attack. His head had been cut off and his entrails were spewed about. His comrades later praised him for his bravery, saying that he must have fought and killed several Indians until his own demise. He was hastily buried in an unmarked grave.^[4] John Potts (or Pott) was a physician and Colonial Governor of Virginia at the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia Colony in the early 17th century. ... Year 1807 (MDCCCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... Manuel Lisa (September 8, 1772 - August 12, 1820) was a well known fur trader and explorer who founded the Missouri Fur Company. ...

External links

• PBS Lewis and Clark website

Further reading

• Thom, James Alexander. (2000). Sign-Talker. New York, Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-39003-2. (A novelized biography of George Drouillard.)

References