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Continuance Fall / Winter 2003-2004Fort Massac Prepared by Sheila Richey, Site Interpreter Lewis and Clark left Clarksville, Indiana, on October 26, 1803. They encamped below the mouth of the Cumberland River on November 10, and arrived at Fort Massac in the Illinois territory on November 11. During the early 1800's, Fort Massac was a recruiting area. Capt. Daniel Bissell, commandant of the fort, led the First Infantry Regiment. Lewis and Clark recruited the members of the expedition from three sources: frontiersmen from the Ohio River Valley, U.S. Army enlisted men, and the French settlers of Illinois and Missouri. The men enlisted from the U.S. army came from four companies stationed at small posts on the western frontier: Capt. Daniel Bissell's company of the First Infantry Regiment, stationed at Fort Massac; Capt. Russell Bissell's company of the same Regiment, stationed at Fort Kaskaskia; Capt. John Campbell's company of the Second Infantry in Tennessee; and Capt. Amos Stoddard's company of artillerists, stationed at Fort Kaskaskia. At Fort Massac, Lewis and Clark recruited George Drouillard, John Newman, and possibly Joseph Whitehouse. George Drouillard, hired as a hunter and sign interpreter, was an important member of the Corps of Discovery. His proper name was George Pierre Drouillard, but in their journals Lewis and Clark spelled his name Drewyer. He was not a soldier but had been hired to hunt for the soldiers at Fort Massac. George Drouillard's father was Pierre Drouillard of Detroit. Church records list Pierre Drouillard as having a child with an Asoundechris Flathead in 1773. The child was baptized George Pierre Drouillard. George Drouillard's parentage makes him part Shawnee and French Canadian. Pierre was for many years an official of the British Indian Department at Detroit and from 1793 to 1798, he was a spy for Virginia, at one time hired by George Rogers Clark. Since George Rogers Clark knew Pierre Drouillard, historians believe that William Clark was aware of George Drouillard, before they met at Fort Massac. Earlier--in 1794--Gen. Anthony Wayne had sent Maj. Thomas Doyle to Fort Massac to build the first American fort at the site. During Major Doyle and company's journey down the Ohio, they met five Canadian hunters at the mouth of the Saline River. George Drouillard was one of the frontiersmen who joined the expedition as it passed downriver. These men built huts near the fort, and George Drouillard became one of the first permanent settlers in what is now Massac County. "It is possible that Drouillard may have been the ‘George' described by Doyle as a Shawnee who spoke seven Indian languages and served as interpreter and message bearer." George Drouillard served as scout and message carrier for the commandants of Massac until 1803. Drouillard was hired by Lewis for $25.00 a month, the equivalent pay of a second lieutenant, and the promise of a warrant for land on his return. He was considered a civilian employee, even though "Mr. Swan Assistant Military agent at Fort Massac advanced him thirty dollars on account of his pay." This may have been the incentive for Drouillard to leave Fort Massac. But more probable was the captains' prior knowledge of him and their faith in his abilities to accomplish his mission. Drouillard was advanced the thirty dollars for expenses to travel to South Point, Tennessee, to pick up more recruits. Drouillard left Fort Massac to pick up these recruits and then to meet Lewis and Clark at their inter headquarters at the Wood River Camp in the Illinois Territory. Another recruit from Fort Massac was Private John Newman from Captain Daniel Bissell's 1st Infantry Company. "He was powerful, strong willed and quick tempered. While enroute up the Missouri with the expedition, he made mutinous remarks, but afterwards did all he could to atone." Because of these actions, he was sent back with the return party in April 1805 from Fort Mandan. Private Newman was tried by court-martial. He was sentenced to seventy-five lashes and was expelled from the permanent party. He was sentenced to hard labor until he was sent back from Fort Mandan. Eventually Congress allowed Newman pay for his period of service up to his expulsion and a land warrant. This had been granted on Lewis's recommendation. Both Fort Massac and Fort Kaskaskia claim that Private Joseph Whitehouse was recruited at their fort. Capt. William Clark lists him as one of the "Nine young men from Kentucky," which would indicate he grew up in that state. As a young man, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and during one period was stationed at Fort Kaskaskia. He was transferred from Capt. Daniel Bissell's company to the expedition and was entered on the roll as of January 1, 1804. Many of the other recruits also have a start date of January 1, 1804. This would appear to mean that Whitehouse and the other members recruited from the other military commands had remained on the payroll of their former units until December 31, 1803.Whitehouse worked as a tailor and hide-curer during the expedition. After the expedition, Whitehouse sold his 160-acre land claim to George Drouillard for $280.00. Private Whitehouse was one of the eight members of the Corps who kept journals. Capt. Meriwether Lewis, Capt. William Clark, Sergeant Charles Floyd, Sergeant John Ordway, Sergeant Patrick Gass, Sergeant Nathaniel Pryor and Private Robert Frazer also kept journals. Six of those journals were published and five original manuscripts exist. Both Pryor's and Frazer's journals were lost and Patrick Gass' original manuscript is thought to have been lost. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark recorded a few observations about Fort Massac in their journals. Meriwether Lewis writes, "11th November, Arrived at Massac engaged George Drewyer in the public service as an Indian Interpreter, contracted to pay him 25 dollars pr. month for his services." The only comment about Fort Massac by Clark was found written crosswise in his field notes. William Clark, "Left Fort Massacre the 13th of Novr 1803 at 4 o'clock with an at." Sources 1.Moulton, Gary E., ed., The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Vol. 2, August 30, 1803-August 24, 1804, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1986, page 510. 2.Nancy R. Slomers-Drouillard, Captain Pierre Drouillard and His Son George: An Anthology of Diverse Authors and Artists Regarding their Perspective of Pierre and George Drouillard from 1744 to 1810, 2002, page 122. 3.Leland R. Johnson, "Doyle's Mission to Massac, 1794," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, spring 1980, page 4. 4.Clark page 55 5.Moulton page 86 6.Moulton page 86 7.Moulton page 86 8.Moulton page 86 |