Lewis and Clark expedition - the Ulster-Scots contribution

by Alister McReynolds

As an amateur scientist long before he became President, Thomas Jefferson entertained an active curiosity about the vast unexplored American wilderness that lay to the north and west of the Mississippi River.

  So it was that in 1803 President Jefferson persuaded Congress to commission an expedition that mapped and catalogued the scenery, horticulture, wildlife and native peoples of this area.

  The expedition lasted for three years and was led by 29-year-old Meriwether Lewis and his fellow Virginian Captain William Clark, who was of Ulster-Scots origin, with connections to the Clark family of Antrim and Upperlands.

  Lewis was of Welsh extraction, but was taught in school by James Waddell, who was born in Newry in July 1739 and who, as a child, subsequently emigrated to Pennsylvania.

  The expedition was largely made up of military men of whom there where about 50 in number.  At one point the Corps was obliged to live with native American Sioux tribesmen and encountered all manner of danger including attacks by grizzly bears.
  Not only was the expedition important for educational reasons but it gave the United States legal claim to the 'Oregon territory' under the valid criteria of 'Discovery and Explanation'.

  Of the Expedition Corps, at least five were of Ulster-Scots background.

Meriwether Lewis 

William Bratton, who was born in 1778 in Augusta county, Virginia, was a hunter, blacksmith and gunsmith.  During the course of the expedition he worked closely with fellow Ulster-Scots descendant - John Shields, of Kentucky, who was a gunsmith, blacksmith and boat-builder.  Of similar background, Private Alexander Carson was the uncle of the famous Scots-Irish cavalry scout and Indian fighter - Christopher 'Kit' Carson.  Alexander Carson was born in Mississippi in 1775.

  Private Hugh McNeal was another of the Scots-Irish contingent, who joined the Corps on April 1, 1804.  He continued to serve in the Army after the expedition and enlisted in the infantry in 1811.

  Private George Shannon was born in Pennsylvania in 1785 and was the youngest member of the expedition at 18. 

 After his return he became a lawyer and served for a period as a senator.  During the expedition Shannon often got lost, but always managed to find his way back to the expedition.  Captain Clark once stated that Shannon was, "one of the most active and useful men we had."

William Clark

Christopher Columbus may or may not have discovered America, but what is for certain is that the Ulster-Scots contributed hugely to the claiming, mapping and charting of all that lies 'Out West' - including the magnificent Rocky Mountains.