Re: MtMan-List: L & C Food

["John L. Allen" <jlallen@snet.net>]

Hello the list,

The Original Journals of Lewis and Clark (Moulton edition) include
references to foods other than salmon and elk that the Corps of Discovery
consumed while at Fort Clatsop on the Pacific. These included dog, whale
blubber, candlefish, roots and berries, hawks, ducks, and sturgeon. There is
no mention of shellfish (clams) or crustaceans (crabs). I would suspect that
the Indians consumed those delicacies but that Lewis and Clark, demanding a
diet that contained fat, would have avoided the trouble it took to seek out
shellfish and crustaceans for more readily available foods. There is an
entire chapter in a relatively recent book on the Expedition devoted to the
foods Lewis and Clark and their men consumed. See Albert Furtwangler, ACTS
OF DISCOVERY: VISIONS OF AMERICA IN THE LEWIS AND CLARK JOURNALS (Univ. of
Illinois Press, 1993), chapter 5.

John Logan Allen
(author of LEWIS AND CLARK AND THE IMAGES OF THE AMERICAN NORTHWEST, Dover
paperback, 1991).

-----Original Message-----
From: Bz <kinbusar@earthlink.net>
To: hist_text@lists.xmission.com <hist_text@lists.xmission.com>
Date: Wednesday, October 21, 1998 11:14 PM
Subject: MtMan-List: L & C Food


>Greetings to All,
>    Been lurking on the list for awhile and enjoyed all the knowledge so
>freely shared.
>    Have been rereading the Journals of Lewis and Clark (DeVoto) and the
>same question keeps popping up.
>    During the time they were on the coast and at Fort Clatsop they mention
>many times the monatony of their diet of elk and salmon.
>    Why did they not make use of the other sea food there?  I use to live
>in that area and even today you can gather a pretty tasty meal off the
>shore and bay. If no one else Lewis had to be familiar with sea food from
>his time spent in D.C. and other east coast cities.
>    Surely men of there proven ingenuity could have cobbled together a
>couple of crab pots, or steamed a bushel or two of clams ect. Even without
>the drawn butter and lemon it would have supplied a tasty break from their
>boring diet.
>     So what am I missing?
>     Any information or opinions appreciated.
>    Thanks
>     Buzz
>