Lewis and Clark Campsite

George Shannon outlived the lost days by three decades. In 1807 he was with Nathaniel Pryor's party trying to take the Mandan leader Sheheke home, and in a fight with the Arikara (Sahnish) he was wounded and lost a leg, later drawing a government pension. In 1808 he went to Lexington, Kentucky, to study law at Transylvania University, and in 1810 he helped Nicholas Biddle with the expedition's history. He served three terms in the Kentucky House from 1820 to 1823, ran for the Senate from Missouri in 1832, and died on August 30, 1836, buried at Palmyra.

What the plaque says

Lewis and Clark Campsite September 2, 1804 On its journey to the Pacific Ocean the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped near here on September 2, 1804. At this camp the explorers' imagination and knowledge of military fortifications misled them into con- cluding that sand ridges and mounds left by Missouri River floods were an ancient forti- fication. Captain Clark made a detailed survey of these natural features. Clark recorded his concern for Private George Shannon who, at 19, was the youngest member of the Corps of Discovery. He had been mis- sing for five days after going in search of stray horses. He was not found until September 11. Clark explained, "He had been 12 days without any thing to eate but Grapes & one Rabit, which he Killed by shooting a piece of hard Stick in place of a ball. This man Supposeing the boat to be a head pushed on as long as he Could, when he became weak and fiable deturmined to lay by and waite for a tradeing boat." Nebraska State Historical Society National Park Service

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Santee Sioux Nation Museum — 9.1 mi
  The Isanti Dakota nation's museum and research room beside its headquarters at Santee, with census rolls from 1866, the mission school's photographs and a Dakota-language newspaper that ran for 68 years.
• Ponca Tribal Museum and Old Ponca Agency — 17 mi
  The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska's museum, powwow arena, talking trail and bison herd at the old agency near Niobrara, on homeland the nation was forced from in 1877.
• Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park — 30 mi
  A watering hole in Antelope County where ash from an eruption in Idaho buried rhinoceroses and horses about twelve million years ago, now uncovered in place under the Hubbard Rhino Barn.

More markers nearby

• Replica Bon Homme School — 10 mi
• First School in Bon Homme — 10 mi
• The Sage Brothers — 15 mi
• Tabor — 15 mi