Lewis and Clark’s search for new plants of the West BY KATHY LLOYD AND DRAKE BARTON
Botanical iscovery D 8
| JULY–AUGUST 2006 | fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors
A DIVERSE MIX OF MONTANA PLANTS BY TIM CADY
The Corps of
FROM THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION’S COMMON JUNIPER SPECIMEN, LEWIS & CLARK HERBARIUM, ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES
T
he Lewis and Clark Expedition might be the most famous adventure story in American history. But perhaps because the explorers didn’t battle ferocious twin-berry honeysuckle or carve their initials into blanket flowers, their scientific exploits—especially in botany—are less well known than their adventures with wild animals and journeys into unmapped territory. Yet the Corps of Discovery’s botanical discoveries are no less important than their escape from grizzly bears and their journey down the Yellowstone River past Pompeys Pillar. Under instructions from President Thomas Jefferson, Captain Meriwether Lewis and other members of the expedition kept a sharp lookout for new plants and discovered at least 85 species never before reported in the United States. The many wondrous plants they found and recorded on the journey not only advanced the scientific study of botany, but also served as food, medicine, and even transportation that ensured the expedition’s ultimate success.
Mission impossible? President Jefferson had many objectives when he dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition westward from the United States to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. In addition to the obvious commercial and expansionist goals, Jefferson’s daunting to-do list included exploring and mapping the Missouri River, finding a water route to the Pacific Ocean, studying the native Indians and their customs, and observing wildlife. The president also instructed the explorers to record the minerals (especially metals) they found, keep climate and weather tables, and maintain journals. What’s more, he asked Lewis to note “the soil & face of the country, it’s growth & vegetable productions, especially those not of the U.S.” and to study the phenology of plants—that is, the dates they bloom, put out leaves, or set
seed. And one last thing: Get back safely. Horticulture and plant study were among the president’s personal pleasures. “Botany I rank with the most valuable sciences,” Jefferson wrote. Lewis, Jefferson’s choice to lead the expedition, possessed an interest in plants and a working knowledge of the eastern United States’ flora. In the spring of 1803, Jefferson asked Dr. Benjamin Barton, the leading American botanist of the day, to instruct the captain in botany and the language of technical description. Lewis was a ready pupil and packed several botany books as he embarked on his momentous journey.
One busy day North and east of present-day Lincoln, Alice Creek flows below Lewis and Clark Pass through wet meadows of blue camas, elephanthead pedicularis, and willows. A short hike up the trail follows the route taken by Lewis, nine men, and their horses as they ascended the pass over the Continental Divide. This was a route recommended to them by various Native Americans, who called it, as Lewis wrote, the “road to buffaloe.” The views and flora today are relatively unchanged from 200 years ago, when on July 7, 1806, Lewis described his trip up Alice Creek “through a handsome narrow plain” and crossing the pass as a “low and an easy ascent.” It was a busy 31-mile day for the explorers and, botanically, one of their most productive in Montana. Though undoubtedly consumed with the daily tasks of managing the expedition, Lewis still took time that day to study, collect, and preserve at least seven plants: arrow-leaf balsamroot, blanket flower, common juniper, twin-berry honeysuckle, silvery lupine, silky lupine, and mountain death camas. Not only did Lewis locate new plants and then learn their characteristics and differences from known species, he also