Posted on 09/03/2012 3:00:50 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
.......The Lewis and Clark expedition was filled with men who were exactly what McCunn was not: men who, like Drouilliard, didn't blink in the face of extreme danger. These frontiersmen could not only survive, but thrive, in an environment which was almost inconceivably dangerous to urbanized Americans today with our risk-phobic, pantywaist frappuccino culture. Drouilliard was the kind of guy you could drop in the middle of a remote jungle with nothing but a pocketknife, and return five years later to find that he had become emperor of his own mini-state, and taken several native wives. Drouilliard and the rest didn't need WiFi or hand sanitizer or organically grown phosphate-free arugula: they just did what needed to be done.
What a difference from today, where the handwringing of nervous housewives ("God forbid little Jimmy should encounter peanut traces in his food") dominates our daily existence, and the liberal imperative of nanny-state overregulation promises the illusion of lives lived in perfect safety and perfect comfort, without risk or suffering or even unpleasantness. Self-sufficiency is anathema to this mentality, but the Lewis and Clark expedition was self-sufficient to an almost unbelievable degree: they not only hunted their own food, but, when necessary, built their own boats; sewed their own clothes; and when it was too cold to travel, built their own forts -- not once, but twice.
In our modern republic, where large segments of our population compete to be declared helpless victims so they can receive government handouts, one cannot help but think that little Jimmy might benefit from being sent out with Drouilliard: "Here's a musket, son -- now go kill that deer, and don't miss, because if you do, there's a strong possibility you might starve."
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Merriweather Lewis was a great-great++++ uncle or cousin or some such thing to me. Not sure of the connection. But he produced a very interesting list of descendents and was also connected to the Washington/Jefferson bunch.
The folks at Bernheim were able to set his leg and then sent him to another preserve, over near Lexington, which specializes in caring for disabled wildlife. They kept him in his own enclosure so that the other raccoons would not be able to take advantage of his blindness and steal his food. He ended up living for many more years and was a big hit with the visitors.
No doubt.
The air rifle was pulled out when needed, it was openly demonstrated, and the word spread in advance. For the time it was a spectacular bit of technology and it presaged Rooseveltian thoughts that it is good to “walk softly and carry a big stick”. Sacajawea and the baby certainly “walked softly” and the air rifle was available when needed.
I read the journals. What I remember most is the entry that read, to the effect, “Today we covered a disappointing 19 miles.”
I do not dispute the level of admiration the legend of his rifle would have created, I just hate it when people play down the brilliance of including her in the trip.
There was no putdown at all. Ever, by anyone. I know of no one, ever, who has been critical of the choice of Sacajawea as a guide as having been nothing but an excellent choice. It is fact.
There is a great lack of general knowledge regarding the unusual technology L and C had with them in terms of the extraordinary rifle, and it has been simply added to already well known facts of the expedition, including the central role played by Sacajawea. The rifle is new technology not generally recognized as having been present and contributory to the success of the expedition.
Imagine.
From your link:
“The bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean has spurred interest in the descendant project, which was launched in 1999.
“They’ve been coming out of the woodwork,” Hargrove said.
Indeed, the 200-year commemoration has led to a broader interest in genealogy among Americans.
“It has absolutely rekindled interest in family history,” said Carol Bronson, executive director of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation in Great Falls, Mont. “People want ownership of the story, and then they feel a part of it.”
Great book.
“Hargrove” has since moved to TX and is a friend.
Bump!
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