Pushing the Frontier West
from Camp River Dubois

Andria Widaman Phillips
Civic Memorial High School, Bethalto

A frontier is defined in Webster's New World Dictionary as, "the line or border between two countries; the part of a settled country that lies next to a region that is still a wilderness; or any new field of learning or any part of it still to be explored." In the 1800s there was no better example of that definition than the Illinois Country. In early 1803 the United States extended its western border past the Mississippi River with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France and in the process opened a frontier. The Mississippi River and the Illinois Country were the borders between the previously settled United States land and the relatively unknown, uncharted land to the west. This newly acquired land marked the frontier from which Meriwether Lewis and George Rogers Clark explored the land and people that lay beyond the Mississippi. Their exploration beyond Illinois began at Camp River Dubois, on May 14, 1803, at the mouth of the Missouri River, which is in the present-day Hartford-Wood River area.

George Rogers Clark (top) and Meriwether Lewis (above)departed from Illinois on their great adventure to chart the unknown wilderness. President Thomas Jefferson had charged them with the task of finding a water route to the Pacific Ocean.

The purpose of the Lewis and Clark expedition, as instructed by Thomas Jefferson prior to the Louisiana Purchase, was "to explore the Missouri river, and such principal stream of it, as, by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregan, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce. . ." In addition to finding this Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, Jefferson had informed the Corps of Discovery, as Lewis and Clark's expeditionary force was called, that they should make friendly contact with any Indians they encountered, chart unknown land (especially the tributaries of the Missouri River), and make careful observations of plant and animal life, and other aspects of the environment. In response, the explorers came from the eastern United States to establish Camp River Dubois.

The Camp River Dubois was the winter camp where the Corps of Discovery gathered and made plans. It was also the starting point of the entire expedition to study the land beyond the Mississippi. On December 12, 1803, Clark, with his men, arrived at the mouth of a small river named DuBois (Wood River) and chose this location to serve as a camp where he could recruit and train personnel, put the finishing touches on the keel-boat (which would be their mode of transportation), and assemble and pack supplies. On May 14, 1804, the Corps of Discovery departed from Camp River Dubois and returned to the same location on September 23, 1806, with news of their discoveries from the uncharted west.

Why did Camp River Dubois, the first winter camp and starting point of the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the unsettled western lands,

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begin in Madison County, Illinois? First, the present-day Wood River-Hartford area was then the farthest point west that was officially part of the United States Northwest Territory. The Camp was set up along the eastern side of the Mississippi River, which was the natural western border of the Northwest Territory of the United States at that time. The Camp would have been set up on the western side of the river had the French and Spanish not controlled St. Louis at the time. In a manner of speaking, the Camp River Dubois was set up along the "west coast" of the United States. Secondly, the camp was located at the mouth of the Missouri River because it was the river route by which the Corps of Discovery planned to travel. In conclusion, the Camp River Dubois was at the very edge of the frontier in the sense that it lay along the Mississippi River, which was "the line or border between two countries."

After Pierre Marquette and Louis Joliet explored the Mississippi River, from the late 1600s to the mid-1700s, French settlements around frontier outposts were established. This area on both sides of the river between the Northwest Territory of the United States and the French Louisiana Territory was known as the "Illinois Country." French forts in the Illinois Country, such as Kaskaskia, St. Genevieve, Fort de Chartres, and Cahokia, were later taken over by Americans. In the midst of the Americans settling around these forts, Lewis and Clark set up a little farther north than Cahokia. By organizing along this line of settlements, it can be said that the Camp River Dubois was set up on the frontier because it was, "part of a settled country that lies next to a region that is still a wilderness," since there were no "white settlements" to the west of the Illinois Country.

The main purpose of the Corps of Discovery was to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. In attempting to do this, the Corps learned about not only the Missouri River and its tributaries, but also about the land in the west. Through their travels, they were able to map the geography of the northwest and gain a stronger hold on what lands were to be controlled by the United States. The Corps of Discovery was able to take notes, make drawings, and send specimens back to President Jefferson. In addition, they contacted the Indians in the west and learned about the various tribes. In these respects, the Camp River Dubois was the starting point by which Lewis and Clark traveled past the existing frontiers of geography, biological science, and cultural diversity, since the land west of the Illinois Country was, "a field of learning still to be explored."

In taking their two-year round-trip adventure, Lewis and Clark began the extension of the western border of the United States past the Mississippi River, blazed a trail through the unsettled lands west of the Mississippi, and gained valuable knowledge of the unknown western half of the United States. In essence, they took the first steps in pushing these three frontiers all the way to the Pacific Ocean.—[From Robert G. Ferris, Lewis and Clark; Stephen E. Ambrose, Undaunted Courage.]

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