Lewis & Clark’s keelboat was built as a galley (a type of ship perfect for propulsion by oars) in Pittsburgh in 1803 for the Lewis & Clark Expedition, after detailed specifications by Meriwether Lewis. A keelboat could be propelled by oars, sails, pols, and towlines. The boat was the expedition’s main vessel until the spring of 1805, when some of the men on the expedition returned it to St. Louis. The journey downstream took just 43 days [while going upstream took about 8 months], and the boat reached its goal with diaries and scientific specimens undamaged, in spite of the spring floods. In all likelihood, the boat was then auctioned off to the highest bidder. (AI)
design of the keelboat
Lewis had designed the keelboat; he supervised its construction, and probably made changes and additions during the building period. The boat was basically a galley, a vessel not like any other found west of the Appalachians, although of a standard type used on inland waters in the east. It was 55 feet long, with an 8-foot beam, and with a shallow draft. The mast was 32 feet high and could be lowered. The boat could carry a headsail and a square rigged sail. A 10-foot long deck at the bow made a forcastle. A raised aftercastle of the same length contained a cabin. The hold had a capacity of 12 tons. Eleven benches for the oarsmen crossed the deck in front of the aftercastle. (AI)
replica #1
As we’ve started on our trip, we’ve seen 2 replicas of the keelboat that the expedition was used as they moved upstream to Mandan, which we know as Bismark, ND.
Clark also designed the keelboat lockers with hinged seats that could be flipped up and used as shields. The next picture shows these hinged seats.
prepare, prepare, prepare
Lewis and Clark had to figure out at Camp Dubois (previous post) how they could get a 55-foot keelboat, loaded with 8 tons of supplies, equipment, and men, up 1500 miles of the Missouri River.
In Philadelphia, Lewis bought 193 lbs. of “p. soup,” a paste of meat bullion, rice, celery, parsley, and spices that were stored in 32 tin canisters.
replica #2
background info
At Nebraska City, just south of Omaha, the snags were bad both going and coming. Clark said that the river at this spot was about 2 miles wide and not very deep since the snags may be seen across the river.
Everyday one sergeant was posted at the bow of the keelboat to watch for dangerous obstacles in the water. He held a settling pole to ward away floating logs. Two experienced bowsmen, Pierre Cruzatte and Francois Labiche, took turns at his side.
white pirogue
“The white pirogue, smaller but more stable than the red, was the queen of the little fleet. In her lockers the captains stored their astronomical instruments, several casks of gunpowder, medicines, their best trade goods, their journals, and other valuable papers. For safety’s sake, the three privates of the expedition who could not swim were assigned as oarsmen to this “flagship.” Also riding in the white pirogue were Sacagawea and her two-month-old baby, her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, the hunter-interpreter George Drouillard, and captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.” from Louis and Clark journals
Lewis and Clark hid this boat in a cache near the Great Falls in the summer of 1805. It was recovered the next summer for the return trip and made it back to St. Louis in September 1806.
A pirogue is a long, narrow riverboat that was often used in the 1700s and 1800s. It often was a dugout (a hollowed out log boat), but the term also referred to boats of plank construction like the ones used in the Lewis & Clark expedition.
This reproduction boat was built in 1999 for the IMAX movie “Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West.” This replica and the original one both had 6 oars and a stern tiller, a mast, and sails. Lewis and Clark sometimes stretched an owning over the stern of their boat to provide shade from the sun.
“One more naming. May 29. All but the sentry were asleep. A huge buffalo bull swam across the river, bumped into the white pirogue, and heaved itself over the stern. From there the heavy-shouldered beast charged into the camp, its big hooves thundering within inches of some of the sleeping men. Alarmed by the yells of the sentry, the bull swerved directly toward the hard-used tepee. The dog Seaman’s furious barking drove it aside and shortly the pandemonium subsided. At daylight the Corps discovered that the bull had broken, during its climb across the pirogue, the stock of one of the swivel guns, part of the rudder’s mechanism, and York’s rifle. “it appears,” Lewis wrote, “that the white perogue, which contains our most valuable stores is attended by some evil gennii.” The closest creek was named Bull Creek.” from Louis and Clark journals
The men didn’t always row the boats; they could also raise the sails and use wind power to travel upstream. Sometimes they poled the boat forward using long poles to push against the river bottom. Other times they tied ropes to the boats and simply pulled them along, wading all day in all kinds of weather.
The Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Center found it discarded and retrieved it in August 2025.
Now that we’ve looked at the boats used during the Lewis & Clark Expedition, we’re ready to leave St. Louis and drive to Kansas City, Mo.
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