MEDIA
Captain Clark and his men shooting Bears.
Original Author: Perhaps Patrick Gass
Created: 1810
Medium: Engraving

Captain Clark and his men shooting Bears.

The second edition of Patrick Gass's A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery, Under the Command of Capt. Lewis and Capt. Clarke of the Army of the United States, From the Mouth of the River Missouri Through the Interior Parts of North America to the Pacific Ocean, During the Years 1804, 1805 and 1806 (1810) includes six engraved scenes from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, including this depiction of an event that took place on June 4, 1805. One of the expedition members, scouting ahead for a place to camp for the night, was attacked by a bear. When his gun misfired, William Clark and a few other explorers, who were atop a bluff about 200 yards away, took aim at the bears and drove them away.

Gass served as a sergeant during the expedition and kept a personal journal during their travels. This edition of his journal was printed by Mathew Carey of Philadelphia. The first edition published in 1807 did not include any illustrations. Gass may have created the drawings himself, or he may have consulted with another artist. Gass's journal was the first such account published about the expedition; in it, he coined the term "Corps of Discovery."