The Journal of Patrick Gass of Lewis & Clark Expedition-- Part 3

AUGUST 25, 1804

"Two of our men  last night caught nine catfish, that would together weigh three hundred pounds. ...Captain Lewis and Captain Clarke went to see a hill on the north side of the river where the natives will not or pretend that they will not venture to go, and say that a small people live there, whom they are afraid of. ... Captains Lewis and Clarke did not return  this evening.

AUGUST 26, 1804

About 10 o'clock Captain Lewis and Captain Clarke with the party accompanying them came to camp;  but had not been able to discover any of those small people.  The hill is in a handsome prairie; and the party saw a great many buffaloe near it."

--Brock-Perry

Some More on Patrick Gass-- Part 5: High Tributes to Gass' Work With the Expedition

Then, it was out to the Pacific Ocean and back for Patrick Gass and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  Here is what Captain Lewis wrote about Gass, dated St. Louis,  October 10, 1806, attesting to his high character and good conduct:

"As a tribute justly due  to the merits of said Patrick Gass, I with cheerfulness declare, that with ample support, which he gave me, under  every difficulty; the manly firmness, which he evinced  on every  necessary occasion; and the fortitude with which he  bore the fatigues and  painful sufferings incident to that long voyage, entitles  him to my highest confidence and sincere thanks, while it eminently recommends him to the  consideration and respect  of his fellow citizens."

Remaining but a short time in St. Louis,  Gass then went to Vincennes, Indiana,  and later to Louisville, Kentucky, where, with a couple of his comrades, rejoined Lewis and Clark.    They had with them a delegation of Indians, headed by Chief Big White, whom the were taking to Washington.  

They paid their respected to President Jefferson, made their report to the proper officials, delivered their specimens and curiosities, and were discharged.

--Brock-Perry

Some More About Patrick Gass-- Part 4: To Kasakaskia and Joining Lewis & Clark

At this point, Patrick Gass had decided to make the Army his career.  His intelligence and other merits caused his promotion ton non-commissioned officer.  His duties were to recruit new soldiers and arrest deserters.

In 1801, Gass went with a company commanded by  Captain Bissell up the Tennessee River and in the Autumn of 1802, Captain Bissel's company, with a battery of  artillery, were sent to Kaskaskia, Illinois,  They were there in the autumn of 1803 when a call was made for recruits  to accompany the expedition of Lewis and Clark.

Captain Lewis himself came to  Kaskaskia in search of  suitable members of his group.  Here, he met one Patrick Gass, and the rest, as they say, was history.

To one of Gass'  adventurous and hardy nature, this was a golden opportunity. He instantly volunteered.  However, Captain Bissell objected and tried to keep Gass.  But the resolute Patrick tracked Lewis down and told him he wanted to go.  Over Bissell's objection, Lewis got Gass.

--Brock-Perry

Patrick Gass & the Corps of Discovery-- Part 2: About Gass's Journal That Angered Lewis

He did not learn to read or write until he was a grown man, but he did keep an expedition journal -- as was required of all sergeants.  Unless he later reconstructed  the portion predating his becoming sergeant on August 4, 1804, he must have started it even earlier when the expedition set out on May 14.

In 1807, his journal was the first to be printed.  However, it was  rewritten into formal prose.  Gass' published journal maddened Meriwether Lewis, who had not yet  had his account published.  The captain raised a public fuss with exchange of angry letters between Lewis and the book's publisher, David McKeehan of Pittsburgh.  Lewis argued that Gass' journal was unauthorized.

Six other publishers soon picked up Gass's book.  As usual for the time, the publishers, rather than the author, were the ones who made the profit.

Gass's journal, for all its shortcomings was the only authentic account of the expedition  in print until Nicholas Biddle's paraphrase of the captains' journals came out in 1814.

--Brock-Perry

Patrick Gass and the Corps of Discovery-- Part 1: Elected to Expedition Sergeant

From the Discovering Lewis & Clark site.

Along with this in formation on Patrick Gass, they have a day-by-day chronology on the Expedition, often written in William Clark's interesting spelling.

It says Gass was the Expedition's carpenter and the last surviving member.

He also became the sergeant of it by election.  A nominating  vote for replacement of Sergeant Charles Floyd was held at present-day Elk Point, South Dakota and nineteen of the group's 25 enlisted men voted for Gass as the replacement.  He must have been held in high esteem.

Pennsylvania-born Irishman Patrick Gasswas a career soldier signing up in 1799 at age 28 and wanted to join the Expedition when they arrived at his post at Fort Kaskaskia in Illinois, but his commander, Captain Russell Bissell wanted to keep him for his services as a carpenter, so Gass went to Meriwether Lewis who persuaded Bissell to let him join.

Gass had previously served in the Army Rangers and now was the expedition's third oldest member after John Shields (b. 1769) and Captain Clark (b. 1770)

--Brock-Perry