Hi all you Shannon cousins: I thought some of you might like to see the references to George Shannon that are in the Lewis and Clark two volume "Journals of the Expedition." I tried to copy the passages exactly as possible, including spelling and punctuation. I read and enjoyed them very much, but it is somewhat dry reading unless you are in the correct frame of mind; thinking you live in the early 17th century. What we can accomplish now in less than two weeks took them approximately 50 times that long, and they lived off the land. I hope you enjoy these excerpts. And if anyone would like to buy a couple of 1962 books in very good condition, let me know. Laurence Don Craig "The Dancing Man" Lewis & Clark Expedition References to George Shannon September 11th, 1804 (Vol. I, Chapter 3, ‘From the Vermilion to the Teton River,’ page 44) - “In the morning we observed a man riding on horseback down towards the boat, and we were much pleased to find that is was George Shannon, one of our party, for whose safety we had been very uneasy. Our two horses having strayed from us on the 26th of August, he was sent to search for them. After he found them he attempted to rejoin us, but seeing some other tracks, which must have been those of Indians, and which he mistook for our own, he concluded that we were ahead, and had been for sixteen days following the bank of the river above us. During the first four days he exhausted his bullets, and was then nearly starved, being obliged to subsist, for twelve days, on a few grapes, and a rabbit which he killed by making use of a hard piece of stick for a ball. One of his horses gave out, and was left behind; the other he kept as a last resource for food. Despairing of overtaking us, he was returning down the river, in hopes of meeting some other boat; and was on the point of killing his horse, when he was so fortunate as to join us.” April 6th, 1805 (Vol. I, Chapter 7, ‘From Fort Mandan to the Yellowstone,’ page 110) --- - - - “Having Made all our arrangements, we left the fort about five o’clock in the afternoon. “The party now consisted of thirty-two persons. Besides ourselves were sergeants John Ordway, Nathaniel Pryor, and Patrick Gass: the privates were William Bratton, John Colter (note: He later discovered Yellowstone geysers), John Collins, Peter Cruzatte, Robert Frazier, Reuben Fields, Joseph Fields, George Gibson, Silas Goodrich, Hugh Hall, Thomas P. Howard, Baptiste Lapage, Francis Labiche, Hugh McNeal, John Potts, John Shields, George Shannon, John B. Thompson, William Werner, Alexander Willard, Richard Windsor, Joseph Whitehouse, Peter Wiser, and captain Clark’s black servant York. The two interpreters, were George Drewyer and Toussaint Chaboneau. The wife (Sacajawea) of Charboneau also accompanied us with her young child, and we hope may be useful as an interpreter among the Snake Indians.” June 23rd, 1805 (Vol. I, Chapter 11, ‘Portaging Around the Great Falls,’ page 172) - “As it was too late to return captain Lewis passed over on a raft which he made for the purpose and spent the night at Shannon’s camp, and the next morning, Monday 24th, sent J. Fields up the river with orders to go four miles and return, whether he found the two absent hunters or not; then descending the Southwest side of Medicine river, he crossed the Missouri in the canoe, and sent Shannon back to his camp to join Fields and bring the meat which they had killed. This they did, and arrived in the evening at the camp on Whitebear islands. A part of the men from Portage creek also arrived with two canoes and baggage.” June 23rd, 1805 (Vol. I, Chapter 11, ‘Portaging Around the Great Falls,’ page 173) - - - - - - “At their camp Drewyer and Fields joined them, and while captain Lewis was looking for them at Medicine river, they returned to report the absence of Shannon about whom they had been very uneasy.” August 6th, 1805 (Vol. I, Chapter 13, ‘From the Three Forks to Beaver’s Head,’ page 212) - “In the evening we killed three deer and four elk, which furnished us once more with a plentiful supply of meat. Shannon, the same man who was lost before for fifteen days, was sent out this morning to hunt, up the northwest fork; when we decided on returning, Drewyer was directed to go in quest of him, but he returned with information that he had gone several miles up the river without being able to find Shannon. We now had the trumpet sounded, and fired several guns, but he did not return, and we fear he is again lost.” August 7th, 1805 (Vol. I, Chapter 13, ‘From the Three Forks to Beaver’s Head,’ page 212) - - - - “In the course of the afternoon there fell a shower of rain attended with thunder and lightning, which lasted about forty minutes, and the weather remained so cloudy all night that we were unable to take any lunar observations. Uneasy about Shannon, we sent R. Fields in search of him this morning, but we have as yet no intelligence of either of them. Our only game to-day was one deer.” August 8th, 1805 (Vol. I, Chapter 13, ‘From the Three Forks to Beaver’s Head,’ page 213) - “Reuben Fields returned about noon with information that he had gone up Wisdom river till its entrance into the mountains, but could find nothing of Shannon.” August 9th, 1805 (Vol. I, Chapter 13, ‘From the Three Forks to Beaver’s Head,’ page 214) - Friday. The morning was fair and fine. We set off early, and proceeded on very well, though there were more rapids in the river than yesterday. At eight o’clock we halted for breakfast, part of which consisted of two fine geese killed before we stopped. “Here we were joined by Shannon for whose safety we had been so uneasy. The day on which he left us on his way up Wisdom river, after hunting for some time and not seeing the party arrive, he returned to the place where he had left us. Not finding us there he supposed we had passed him and he therefore marched up the river during all the next day, when he was convinced that we had not gone on, as the river was no longer navigable. He now followed the course of the river down to the forks, and then took the branch which we are pursuing. During the three day of his absence, he had been much wearied with his march, but had lived plentifully, and brought the skins of three deer. As far as he had ascended Wisdom river it kept its course obliquely down toward the Jefferson.” The end of George Shannon mentions in Volume I. November 15th, 1805 (Vol. II, Chapter 20, ‘From Tidewater to the Pacific Ocean,’ page 331) - “Here we met Shannon, who had been sent back to meet us by captain Lewis. The day Shannon left us in the canoe, he and Willard proceeded on till they met a party of twenty Indians, who never having heard of us, did not know where they came from: they however behaved with so much civility, and seemed so anxious that the men should go with them towards the sea, that their suspicions were excited, and they declined going on: the Indians, however, would not leave them and the men being confirmed in their suspicions, and being fearful if they went into the woods to sleep they would be cut to pieces in the night, thought it best to pass the night in the midst of the Indians; they therefore made a fire, and after talking with them to a late hour, laid down with their rifles under their heads. As they awoke this morning they found that the Indians had stolen and concealed their guns; having demanded them in vain, Shannon seized a club, and was about assaulting one of the Indians whom he suspected as a thief, when another Indian began to load a fowling piece, with an intention of shooting him. He therefore stopped and explained by signs, that if they did not give up the guns, a large party would come down the river before the sun rose to such a height, and put every one of them to death. Fortunately, captain Lewis and his party appeared at this time, and the terrified Indians immediately brought the guns, five of them came on with Shannon. To these men we declared, that if ever any of their nation stole any thing from us he should be instantly shot. June 18th, 1806 (Vol. II, Chapter 30, ‘Again in the Bitter-root Mountains’ page 475) - Wednesday. “Two of them were however still missing, and we therefore directed two of the party to remain and hunt for them. At the same time, we despatched Drewyer and Shannon to the Chopunnish, in the plains beyond the Kooskooskee, in order to hasten the arrival of the Indians who had promised to accompany us: or at any rate, to procure a guide to conduct us to Traveller’s-Rest. For this purpose they took a rifle, as a reward to any one who would engage to conduct us, with directions to increase the reward, if necessary, by an offer of two other guns, to be given immediately, and then ten horses, at the falls of the Missouri.” June 21st, 1806 (Vol. II, Chapter 30, page 477) - Saturday. --- “At the pass of Collins’s creek we met two Indians, who returned with us about half a mile, to the spot we had formerly slept in September, and where we now halted to dine and let our horses graze. These Indians had four supernumerary horses, and were on their way to cross the mountains. They had seen Drewyer and Shannon, who they said would not return for two days.” July 23rd, 1896 (Vol. II, Chapter 33, ‘Captain Clark Explores the Yellowstone’ page 515) - “At noon the two canoes were finished. They are twenty-eight feet long, sixteen or eighteen inches deep, and from sixteen to twenty-four inches wide, and being lashed together, every thing was prepared for setting out to-morrow; Gibson having recovered. Sergeant Pryor was now directed with Shannon and Windsor, to take our horses to the Mandans, and if he found that Mr. Henry was on the Asiniboin river, to go thither and deliver him a letter, the object of which was to prevail on the most distinguished chiefs of the Sioux to accompany him to Washington.” August 8th, 1806 (Vol. II, Chapter 34, ‘Down the Yellowstone; Reunion of the Parties’ page 524) - Friday. “On the following morning, sergeant Pryor, accompanied by Shannon, Hall, and Windsor, arrived, but without the horses. They reported that on the second day after they left captain Clark, they halted to let the horses graze near the bed of a large creek, which contained no running water; but soon after a shower of rain fell, and the creek swelled so suddenly, that several horses which had straggled across the dry bed of the creek, were obliged to swim back. They now determined to form their camp; but the next morning were astonished at not being able to find a single one of their horses. They immediately examined the neighbourhood, and soon finding the track of the Indians who had stolen the horse, pursued them for five miles, where the fugitives divided into two parties. They now followed the largest party five miles further, till they lost all hopes of overtaking the Indians, and returned to camp; and packing the baggage on their backs pursued a northeast course toward the Yellowstone. On the following night a wolf bit sergeant Pryor through the hand as he lay asleep, and made an attempt to seize Windsor, when Shannon discovered and shot him. They passed over a broken open country, and having reached the Yellowstone near Pompey’s pillar, they determined to descend the river, and for this purpose made two skin canoes, such as they had seem among the Mandans and Ricaras.” September 22nd, 1806 (Vol. II, Chapter 36, ‘The Expedition Returns in Safety to Sat. Louis’ page 545) - Monday. “The rain having ceased, we set out for Coldwater creek, about three miles from the mouth of the Missouri, where we found a cantonment of troops of the Unite States with whom we passed the day, and then, Tuesday, 23d, descended to the Mississippi, and round to St. Louis, where we arrived at twelve o’clock, and having fired a salute went on shore and received the heartiest and most hospitable welcome from the whole village.”