The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Clark's Family Makes It Right C aptain Clark's Des cendants Make

Amends To Tribe

After completing their journey west and spending a wet and wretched winter at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1806, William Clark and Meriweather Lewis prepared to head home. There was just one problem. They were short a canoe.

So, they stole one from the Native Americans who had kept them alive all winter.

More than 200 years later, William Clark's descendants are making amends by presenting a 30-foot replica of the stolen canoe to the Chinook Indian Nation. (This was presented Sept. 24.)

This gesture by Clark's descendants means a lot to the Chinook Indian Nation, so much so that the tribe and Clark's descendants will have a salmon dinner together on the weekend to mark the occasion.

"We talked about what happened 205 years ago, and believe that things could be restored if something like this were done," said Carlota Clark Holton of St. Louis, Mo., seven generations removed from William Clark.

The marker at the Lewis and Clark State Park located between Dayton and Waitsburg states:

In early May of 1806, Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery passed through here on their return from the Pacific Ocean heading East and they would complete their epoch making journey in St. Louis September 23. While in the region, the hungry men ate cow parsnip and Doc for lack of better provisions.

They must have been desperate to be forced to eat weeds such as cow parsnip, a long perennial weed that grows 6 feet tall. The stem is stout and has a heavybranched root system. (Upon research in my weed book, Prairie Indians roasted the roots then ground them into meal, which was baked or made a thin porridge.)

The Doc, or Dock, weed mentioned belongs to the buckwheat family and is also a coarse weed.

It appears they were very resourceful in making something to satisfy their hunger.

The Associated Press and National Public Radio contributed to this story.