I am reading the Journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Very interesting stuff. Anyway, the expedition sailed, paddled, poled, and towed their boats as far up the Missouri river and its headwaters as they possibly could, until stopped by the Rocky Mountains. Then, according to plan, they contacted the local Indians, hoping to negotiate the use of some horses to carry their equipment over the mountains to the headwaters of the Columbia where they would again take to the water for the trip to the Pacific.
The local Indians were very suspicious, thinking that the expedition was a trap to lure them into an ambush by an enemy tribe. From the journals: "Cameahwait [local chief and, it later turned out, Sacajawea's brother] told him [Lewis] that some foolish person has suggested that he was in league with their enemies the Pahkees, and had come only to draw them into ambuscade . . . . Captain Lewis felt uneasy at this insinuation: he knew the suspicious temper of the Indians, accustomed from their infancy to regard every stranger as an enemy, and saw that if this suggestion were not instantly checked, it might hazard the total failure of the enterprise. Assuming therefore a serious air, he told the chief that he was sorry to find that they placed so little confidence in him, but that he pardoned their suspicion because they were ignorant of the character of white men, among whom it was disgraceful to lie or entrap even an enemy by falsehood . . . ."
So, laugh, cry, both, or neither?
edit: I spelled laugh wrong in the poll title!
Site Information
About Us
- RonPaulForums.com is an independent grassroots outfit not officially connected to Ron Paul but dedicated to his mission. For more information see our Mission Statement.
Connect With Us