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WHO WAS PRIVATE GEORGE SHANNON? (You are here)
The youngest member of the "Corps of Discovery" was Private George Shannon. Private Shannon is mentioned in several journal entries due to his lack of orientation. On several occasions Private Shannon was sent out into the wilderness and found himself lost. The first time this happened was on August 27th, 1804 near Yankton, South Dakota. While searching for lost horses, Private Shannon became as lost as the horses and did not find his way back to the company until September 11th. During his time on the prairie Private Shannon lived for 12 days on a few wild grapes and a rabbit. It was later discovered that he was traveling ahead of the Corps and after despairing because he could not catch up with them he returned down river towards Saint Louis and eventually found the party. Private Shannon would have other lost -and -found episodes during his travels, most lasted only a few hours, but on August 6th, 1805 Shannon was in trouble again. This time while hunting near Dillon, Montana he didn’t find the party until August 9th. Again Shannon thought that the Corps was up river from him. Captain Lewis wrote: "Shannon arrived, and informed us that having missed the party the day on which he set out he had returned the next morning to the place from whence he had set out or first left them and not finding them that they were not above him as the river could not be navigated; he then returned to the forks and had pursued us up this river. He brought the skins of three deer, which he had killed, which he said were in good order. He had lived very plentifully this trip, but looked a good deal worried with his march." Later in life George Shannon studied law and became a lawyer and a senator from Missouri. |
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George Shannon 