T H I R T E E N T H O F A N O N G O I N G S E R I E S

Uniforms to buckskins

Sergeant’s uniform

Fatigue uniform issuedto enlisted men

Clothing enlistedmen wore as

issued uniformsbecame unusable

Enlisted men

L&C Honor Guard’sMike Staigmiller por-trays Pvt. William Warn-er in leather garb wornlater in the expedition.

The captains also al-lowed the soldiers towear black head-scarves instead ofhats.

Walt Walker, presidentof the Lewis and ClarkHonor Guard in GreatFalls, portrays Sgt. PatrickGass.

He wears a forage cap,which resembles a stock-ing cap turned up andtrimmed in red. Theymade their own from oldArmy coats.

When conditions werebad, all the men wore gai-ters (not shown) over theirankles to keep mud outof their shoes.

Zach Staigmiller,12, of the Lewis andClark Honor Guard,portrays Pvt. GeorgeShannon, who at 18was the youngestmember of the expe-dition.

The uniform includ-ed white linen overallsand a matching frock,or shirt.

Steve Schaller of theLewis and Clark HonorGuard portrays Pvt. Sil-as Goodrich wearingthe basic U.S. Army is-sue uniform of 1796-1804.

The hats were issuedwith removable blackbearskin crests, or capswith white-tail deerplumes (not shown).

Basic Armyuniform

By LARRY WINSLOWTribune Staff Writer

The Lewis and Clark Ex-pedition was a militarymission, and the 35 mem-bers of the Corps of Dis-covery who were soldierswere expected to wear mil-itary uniforms.

Tricorner hats were out,round hats were in. Andforget about Davy Crock-ett’s coonskin caps. Fring-es on buckskin clothingwas frowned upon. Onemilitary exception, almostall of the men changed toleather moccasins soonafter leaving St. Charlesand civilization in May1804.

Lewis knew that the mil-itary clothing wouldn’t lastthe journey. The menwould have to replacetheir garments with similarclothing made of deer

hide, or “buckskins,” andfurs.

Soldiers kept their full-dress dress uniforms instorage for the durationof the journey. Uniformsof red, white and blue forthe regulars and draband blue for the new re-cruits were worn duringmilitary inspections, cer-emonies and parades forIndian tribes, and formaloccasions such as acourt-martial and punish-ment.

In lieu of a uniformcoat, the men wore fa-tigues, hunting shirts orfrocks made of linen atfirst, and later buckskinfor the hard work of get-ting the keelboat and twopirogues up the MissouriRiver.

French engagés, hiredin St. Louis as boatmen,hunters and interpreters

wore their own civilianclothing, a colorful combi-nation of Indian and Euro-pean-style clothing. A de-scription of GeorgeDrouillard noted a yellowhandkerchief on his head,a bright blue and whitecheckered shirt under awhite linen frock, a blueand red woven sash, gar-ters and blue wool leg-gings. His moccasin flapswere edged with blue andred wool.

During the winter at FortMandan, with 32-degree-

below-zero weather andfrostbite, the captains is-sued cold weather cloth-ing Lewis had procured in1803. “Blanket cappoes(coats) provided for eachman who Stood in needof them & C.” Capt. Will-iam Clark noted that “Iline my Gloves and havea cap made of the Skin ofthe Louservia (lynx)...”

Back on the move inApril 2005, moccasinswore out every two daysand were constantly re-paired or replaced.

Even after they beganwearing buckskin, orleather clothing, officerscontinued to carry espon-toons and wear chapeaude bras bicorner militaryhats issued to officers.Enlisted men also contin-ued to use the militaryknapsacks they had beenissued.

When the expeditionreached the Pacific coast,the rain rotted the oldleather clothing as fast asthe men could make re-placements.

One article of clothingthe Corps adopted werehats made of interwovencedar bark and beargrassby the Clatsop Indians.

When the party left FortClatsop to return home,they had 358 pairs ofmoccasins, as well asshirts, overalls and coatsof dressed elk skins.

They took little time toreplace worn out clothes.As the men neared civili-zation “nearly naked,”they traded with the furexpeditions coming up theMissouri. By the time theyreturned to “civilization,”many wore buckskins butalso new linen or flannelshirts.

Clothing of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Lewis and Clark wore round, felt hats bear-ing leather ornaments, or cockades, witheagle medallions at thecenter. For full dressthey wore chapeaude bras, cres-cent-shapedhats like theone at right.

Sources: “Tailor Made, Trail Worn: Army Life, Clothing andWeapons of the Corps of Discovery.” by Robert J. Moore andMichael Haynes (illustrator). Far Country Press, P.O. Box5630, Helena MT 59604. (2003). “A Manual for InterpretingLewis and Clark: A Guideline for Individuals, Groups, HistoricSites and Re-Enactments,” by Gene Hickman and publishedby the Lewis and Clark Honor Guard (2003) in Great Falls.

Officerscarriedweaponscalled esp-ontoons.

A silverornamentknown asan epauletteon the rightshoulder sig-nified cap-tain’s rank.An epauletteon the leftshouldermeant lieu-tenant. Bothshoulderssignifieda major.

The captainswore a gorget,or metal cres-cent handeddown from thedays of medi-eval knights.Knights used itto protect thethroat.

Officer and basic armycoats were deep bluewith red woolen col-lars, cuffs and lapelsand coattails lined inwhite. The officers’coats had silver trimdecorated with falsebuttonholes.

The captains andsergeants woredecorative crim-son sashes.

Swords worn onthe captains’ leftsides were at-tached to whiteshoulder belts.

Lewis andClark’s trouserswere calledpantaloons.Enlisted menwore overalls.

Like many of their men, the captains often worefringeless buckskin pants, frocks and moccasins.

A cartridge boxon the right hipcarried balls,or bullets, forthe muskets.

Lewis wore acaped huntingfrock made oflinen.

A powderhorn carriedand dispensedgunpowder.

Blackleatherwaistbeltswithbrassbuckleskeptsheathedkniveshandy.

Some uniforms includ-ed black leather neckstocks to guardagainst saber slashes.

Leather waist beltsheld hatchets,sheathed knivesand a pouches.

Photos by TribunePhoto EditorRobin Loznak

Field dress uniformNorm Anderson of the Lewis and Clark Honor Guard in Great Falls portraysCapt. Meriwether Lewis wearing a dress uniform. Here are some details:

Anderson wears a replica of Lewis’ “field hunting,foraging or exploring uniform.”

Field hunting uniform

Metal breast-plates inscribedwith eagle motifsadorned theirsword belts.

Research by Larry Winslow Graphic by Také Uda