Venereal Disease And The Lewis And Clark Expedition

About this book

One of the greatest challenges faced by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis on their 18046 Corps of Discovery expedition was that of medical emergencies on the trail. Without an attending physician even routine ailments and injuries could have tragic consequences for the expeditions success and the safety of its members. Of these dangers the most insidious and potentially devastating was the slow painful and oftentimes fatal ravage of venereal disease. Physician Thomas P. Lowry delves into the world of nineteenth-century medicine uncovering the expeditions very real fear of venereal disease. Lewis and Clark knew they were unlikely to prevent their men from forming sexual liaisons on the trail so they prepared for the consequences of encounters with potentially infected people as well as the consequences of preexisting disease by stocking themselves with medicine and the latest scientific knowledge from the best minds in America. Lewis and Clarks expedition encountered Native peoples who experienced venereal disease as a result of liaisons with French British Spanish and Canadian travelers and had their own methods for curing its victims or at least for easing the pain it inflicted. Lowrys careful study of the explorers journals sheds new light on this neglected aspect of the expedition showing in detail how sex and venereal disease affected the men and their mission and describes how diverse peoples faced a common threat with the best knowledge and tools at their disposal.