Celestial Observations and Ft. Jefferson 15, November 1803

During five (5) days at the Mouth of the Ohio River Lewis and Clark made celestial observations, drew maps, wrote reports, and described how eastern American Indians were already migrating west of the Mississippi River. The captains visited Old Ft. Jefferson, built by George Rogers Clark, William's older brother, during the Revolutionary War. ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Clark had previously surveyed and drawn a map of the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in 1796 and had been at the confluence on other occasions. ⁽³⁾

William Clark’s 1803 Drawing of Ohio and Mississippi River Confluence.

The present-day confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers is close to a mile further west, a result of floods, especially the 1937 Flood. The view of the joining of the two mighty rivers is seen below:

Fort Defiance, Caro, IL

Courtesy: NPS- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

The Cross Overlook, Wickliffe, KY (US 62) is another view of the Mississippi and Ohio River Confluence and Lewis and Clark in Kentucky Historical Marker.

Cross Over Look (confluence of Ohio and Mississippi Rivers)

Courtesy: Lewis and Clark Trust

Wickliffe Mounds Historical Site (US 60 & Green Street) Wickliffe, KY. A Mississippian Archeological Site dated A. D. 1100-1350.

The Ballard-Carlile Co. Historical and Genealogical Society, 257 N. 4^th Street, Wickliffe, KY, 270-335-5059, Fort Jefferson Room, contains Dr. Kenneth Carstens, Emeritus Professor of Antropology and Archaeology, Murray State University, life time collection and books on Ft. Jefferson. This excellect research collections is the finest in the Nation on the Ft. Jefferson history, including the Tribal people that struggled at Thomas Jefferson fort, the most western fort during the American Revolution.