Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 - (Page 92)

Documenting the Great Unknown A year prior to Lewis and Clark’s renowned expedition, two other explorers set out to survey the Lower Louisiana Purchase along the Ouachita River Early 19th-century travel was no picnic, and explorers who roughed it in the wilderness had it far worse. The Forgotten Expedition, a collection of journal entries by William Dunbar and Dr. George Hunter, documents their travels up the Red and Ouachita Rivers. After slowly making their way upstream, they spent one month near what it now Hot Springs, Arkansas, and returned to Natchez, Mississippi in January, 1805, over three months later. Theirs was one of four “fact-finding ventures” sanctioned by President Jefferson in 1804. However, most people would be able to name only one: that of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s “Corps of Discovery” into the northernmost Louisiana Purchase. Less historically glamorous than Lewis and Clark’s, Hunter and Dunbar’s expedition proved historically significant: “They planned to complete precise mapping of the waterways, to categorize the flora and fauna, and to scientifically test the waters along the Ouachita River. They hoped to emerge from their short expedition with the first official view and description of the southern Louisiana Purchase,” refining the rudimentary maps and sketchy knowledge of the area. President Jefferson chose William Dunbar, an old friend from Natchez, to lead the group, who in turn selected George Hunter, an industrious doctor with expertise in chemical analysis to accompany him. Their crew consisted of 13 enlisted soldiers, Hunter’s teenage son, two of Dunbar’s slaves, and his personal servant. On October 16, 1804, the 19 men started their voyage in a 50-foot boat that Hunter had designed and commissioned in Pittsburgh. Within a few days, Dunbar and Hunter discovered that they were traveling during “the least favorable The Forgotten Expedition 1804-1805: The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter Trey Berry, Pam Beasley and Jeanne Clements, Editors Louisiana State University Press: 2006 312 pages $29.95 hardcover season for ascending this river with a boat of so considerable a draught of water as ours.” Their progress was far slower than they had hoped, but they moved gamely on, making 12 to 15 miles a day. Low water, shoals, small waterfalls — all of them were surmounted with brute force. On several occasions, the crew had to unload supplies from the boat and use the riverbed as a fulcrum, rocking the boat from aft to fore, moving ahead a few feet at a time to reach navigable water. As a whole, The Forgotten Expedition captures the realities of an early 19th century expedition. The editors have includes enough rich detail in the footnotes to bring to life Dunbar and Hunter’s terse journal entries. Berry, Beasley, and Clements have done a remarkable job of establishing historical and scientific context. Their lucid explanations of some rather arcane geological and navigational notes kept me reading when I could have easily set the book aside. Individually, the journal entries are interesting; collectively, and in concert with the editors’ notes, they illustrate the sense of purpose, mental focus, and stamina required to explore new territory and return home with accurate data. Dunbar and Hunter’s expedition reflects the Age of Enlightenment, with its emphasis on measurement, doublechecking, analysis, and objectivity. Their astronomical observations and field studies of soil, rock, and water were carried out with scientific precision despite the journey’s daily physical and emotional challenges. Dunbar’s navigational measurements proved to be incredibly accurate, and he used this trip to help perfect his method of calculating longitude — one of the great challenges of his day. The editors’ explanation of the technique is a model of clarity. At only a few moments do readers learn much about the crew, so this passage by Hunter stands out: “The men, or rather 92 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Winter 2007-08

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Katrina: Days of Terror, Months of Anguish Paintings by Rolland Golden The Historic New Orleans Collection The Great Ouachita River Flood of 1932 Jazz Notes Louisiana Architecture Louisiana: Where Land Meets Water Louisiana State Museum Through A Lens Sharply: An Interview with Michael Lewis MR-GO: A “miracle” mired in controversy Louisiana Foodways Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans: An Autopsy Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2007

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