Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz.

May 21, 1804: "...Set out at half passed three oclock under three Cheers from the gentlemen on the bank...."

Sept. 21, 1806: "...we Soon arrived opposite the Town [St. Charles], this day being Sunday we observed a number of Gentlemen and ladies walking on the bank, we saluted the Village by three rounds from our blunderbuts and the Small arms of the party, and landed near the lower part of the town.:

On May 21, 1804, the Corps of Discovery departed from St. Charles near this spot. The day before, Meriwether Lewis had finally arrived from St. Louis. That same day, William Clark had given 20 of the men permission to attend the local Roman Catholic Church in St. Charles.

On his last morning in St. Charles, Clark enjoyed one more meal at the household of Francois Duquette, who had been a most accommodating host during the five days the corps had spent in St. Charles. As the time drew near to depart from St. Charles, the westernmost town of the United States, the pace of final preparations for the expedition quickened. Clark said that he spent "all the forepart of the Day Arranging our party and procureing the different articles necessary for them," then attended to the last details of packing the two pirogues and the keelboat. George Drouillard and Alexander Willard were to stay behind and rejoin the party a few days later by land. They probably brought along two horses that would be very useful for the hunters who would thereafter be sent out into the surrounding countryside almost every day to bring in fresh game.

The corps set out mid-afternoon and received three cheers from a group of gentlemen gathered on the bank. Soon after getting under way, the party was pelted by a rainstorm and a hard wind and decided to camp at the upper point of an island, later called St. Charles Island, about three miles upriver from St. Charles. The rain came down hard for the rest of the night.

Two year and four months after leaving St. Charles, the expedition made a triumphant return to the town on Sunday, Sept.21, 1806. As they neared home, Clark noted that "our party appears extremely anxious to get on, and every day appears to produce new anxieties in them to get to their Country and friends." Approaching the village of La Charrette, the party saw cows on the bank and cheered at this sign of approaching settlements. On Sept.21, they quickly covered the 48-mile distance from La Charrette to St. Charles. Around 4p.m., as the town came into view, Clark said "the party rejoiced at the Sight of this hospital village played their oars with great dexterity." The party fired a salute to the people of St. Charles with three rounds from the mounted swivel guns and small arms. By the time the boats pulled to shore, a large crowd of townspeople gathered around them. Amazed to see the members of the expedition alive and well, despite rumors that they had been killed or captured, the townspeople showered the returning explorers with hospitality, and most of the party found quarters in town with obliging residents. Lewis and Clark spent the evening with Francois Duquette and Basil Proix. The next day, following a rainstorm, the boats of the expedition pulled out in late morning and continued the downriver journey to Fort Bellefontaine. On the next day, Sept.23, they arrived at last at the end of their epic journey - the town of St. Louis.

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