Jefferson National Expansion Memorial - Private George Shannon (U.S. National Park Service)

Sketch copyright by Michael Haynes.

P.S. Well, it was quite a trip. I wasn't ready for most of what happened. I got lost for over two weeks in the autumn of 1804 and almost starved to death, and I was lost again for a couple of days at the headwaters of the Missouri in 1805. But I made it back! In 1807 I went along with Nathaniel Prior's expedition to return Chief Big White to the Mandans. In a fight with the Arikara Indians I was shot in the leg, which later had to be amputated. But I made it back! William Clark became a good friend. I helped him edit the expedition journals and studied to be a lawyer, later practicing law in Kentucky and Missouri. I also served in the Missouri State Senate. I died in Palmyra, Missouri in 1836 while working on a case in court.