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The Lewis and Clark Expedition—epic in scale, purpose, and endurance—wasn’t just a mission to chart the West. It was a battle for survival, where every step forward depended on physical strength and full stomachs. While the goal was to find a water route to the Pacific, staying alive was a close second.
 

Feeding an Army

As a military expedition, the Corps of Discovery followed the Quartermaster General’s guidelines, which emphasized nutrition as key to efficiency. The Revolutionary War had already taught America a hard truth: inadequate supplies could cost the battle.

By 1803, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were well aware of this lesson. They packed their keelboats with a blend of standard military rations and personal additions to sustain their men on an unknown journey.

Basic U.S. Army Ration (Established by Act of Congress, March 16, 1802):

• Beef – 20 oz

• Flour – 18 oz

• Rum – 1 gill

• Vinegar – 0.32 gill

• Salt – 0.64 oz

• Soap – 0.64 oz

• Candle – 0.24 oz

Lewis and Clark expanded these provisions with:

• “Portable soup” (a concentrated meat stock like a bouillon cube)

• 50 kegs of salt pork

• Flour, corn, and cornmeal

• 120 gallons of whiskey

 Living Off the Land

No matter how carefully packed, the expedition's food supply alone wouldn’t sustain them across thousands of rugged miles. Lewis and Clark counted on wild game and fish to meet daily needs—and the Corps burned through 13,000 to 15,000 calories per man, per day.

To meet these demands, the expedition relied heavily on skilled hunters:

• Reubin and Joseph Fields

• George Drouillard

• William Bratton

• George Gibson

• Francois LaBiche

• Richard Windsor

• John Collins
  And fisherman Silas Goodrich

Fresh meat was vital. When game ran low, the Corps traded with Native tribes using beads, medicine, and ironwork. Still, the men sometimes resorted to eating horses—or even dogs. According to Lewis’s journal, dog meat became a favored dish, so much so that the men once traded fish to obtain more of it.

On the Menu: Two Meals a Day

The expedition typically served two cooked meals per day—one in the morning and one in the evening. During the day, dried meat (jerky) and foraged items filled the gaps.

Cooks of the Corps included:

• John B. Thompson

• John Collins

• William Werner

• York (William Clark’s enslaved man, believed to have cooked for the captains)

Meals were practical but not without occasional flair. One such moment came when Toussaint Charbonneau (Sacagawea’s husband) prepared a special dish called boudin blanc. According to Lewis, this prairie delicacy was “baptized in the Missouri with two dips and a flirt, bobbed into the kettle, then fried in bear oil.” It was a moment of culinary celebration amid the hardships.

Other notable dishes included:

• Candlefish, a rich source of fat and flavor

• Prairie dog (enjoyed in present-day Lynch, Nebraska—two thumbs up from the captains

Notable Cookware:

January 17, 1806, Encamped at Fort Clatsop. Clark journals:

"the culinary articles of the Indians in our neighbourhood consit of wooden bowls or throughs, baskets, wooden spoons and woden scures or spits... their baskets are formed of cedar bark and beargrass so closely interwoven with the fingers that they are watertight without the aid of gum or rosin.
 

How Much Did They Eat?

To match the day’s exertion, each man consumed 9–10 pounds of meat per day, often supplemented with wild turnips, camas roots, and berries. To put this in modern terms, that’s the equivalent of:

• 8.5 angel food cakes

• 25 quarter-pound cheeseburgers
   

Taste and Make History

👉 The Lewis and Clark Cookbook: Historic Recipes from the Corps of Discovery and Jefferson's America 

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👉 Lodge Lewis and Clark Cookware Set

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👉 Campfire Cooking Stand