• Student Page
• Introduction
• Task
• Process
• Evaluation
• Conclusion
• Teacher Page
• Credits

- Conclusion -

Photo Credit: HQ, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Office of History

To travel across country without any motor vehicles over 29 months, even today, would present many medical risks. Yet, in the early 1800s, with little more than basic first aid training, Lewis and Clark somehow managed to return all but one of their charges safely. As Dr. David J. Peck explains, “Their challenge was staggering – their luck was phenomenal.”

Sergeant Charles Floyd was the Expedition’s quartermaster, but he died early, as the Expedition was barely underway, on August 20, 1804. Clark diagnosed Floyd’s condition as “bilious colic,” though most medical experts today believe Floyd's cause of death was more likely a ruptured appendix. If he had indeed suffered from acute appendicitis, there was no known cure at the time, and he most likely would have died even if he had the best medical care available at the time. Floyd’s fellow Corps members held a funeral for him and buried him on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River near what is now Sioux City, Iowa. They named the location Floyd’s Bluff and marked the grave with a cedar post. Over the next 50 years, erosion washed away the cedar post and exposed the remains of Sergeant Floyd. Concerned local citizens rescued the remains, placed them in a new coffin, and re-buried what was left of Sergeant Floyd farther from the river. The 100-foot high Floyd Monument was completed in 1901 to honor the one member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who did not return.

Having completed your research, you have learned about some of the common medical problems encountered during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and some of the treatments which were often more hazardous than the medical conditions they were used to treat. As you create your presentation, consider some of the following questions for further thought and reflection.

Further Thought and Reflection

• What are some medical treatments we take for granted today that would have made the Expedition of Lewis and Clark much more comfortable for the Corps members?
• Most medical experts today are amazed that only one man died during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Why do you think they are amazed? Think of some specific examples to support your opinion.
• Though only one man died during the Expedition, some of the Corps members may have suffered long term effects from some of their “treatments.” Research the lives of some of the Corps members after they returned from the Expedition to investigate just how successful, or lethal, some of the medical treatments actually were.
• How has our understanding of cells and microbes changed over the past 200 years? How has technology aided in the understanding of cells and microbes? How is this related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition?