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Historical Background

Clark visits the Capital City

Clark spent about 7 weeks in Washington. He visited with Lewis and probably called on President Jefferson. About the time Clark left town, Congress affirmed his appointment by Jefferson as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Louisiana Territory and his nomination by Secretary of War Dearborn as brigadier general of militia for the Territory. [160]

Clark goes back to St. Louis

On March 10, 1807, Clark set out for St. Louis, where he faced the task of sending Sheheke back to his people. After a stop at Fincastle to see his sweetheart once again, he proceeded to Louisville, where he paused for a time before pushing on to his destination. He arrived there at the end of June or early in July 1807 to take up his new duties.

Philadelphia artist C. B. J. Fevret de Saint Memin executed this sketch of Sheheke, or Big White, apparently while the Mandan chief was visiting the city in the spring of 1807. Lewis likely commissioned the work for his proposed history of the exploration, which never saw the light of day. (Crayon drawing by C. B. J. Fevret de Saint Memin. American Philosophical Society.)

Clark attempts to send Sheheke home

Clark assigned the task of returning Sheheke to Ens. Nathaniel H. Pryor, who had been a sergeant with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In the summer of 1807, he led a detachment of 13 soldiers, which included the expedition's George Shannon and probably George Gibson. Accompanying the detachment were Pierre Chouteau and a trading party of 32 men. But the Arikaras, who resented the death of their chief, Ankedoucharo, in Washington, D.C., in 1806, and some Sioux allies attacked and turned back the group. Four men in Pryor's party died and nine suffered wounds, one of whom was Shannon. By the time the expedition could return home, his wounded leg had become gangrenous. At Camp Belle Fontaine, where Sheheke and his family were also left, an Army surgeon amputated the leg just above the knee. For a time Shannon was near death, but he eventually recovered.