Before the Corps of Discovery embarked on their Westward expedition, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark made Camp Wood, Illinois their base camp to prepare for the long journey westward. In 1803, the captains took to “disciplining the men, and making the necessary preparations for setting out early in the Spring.” Thomas Jefferson charged the two leaders with these three goals: to find a Northwest passage to the Pacific ocean, to make friendly relations with the Native Americans they come in contact with, and to study and log the many plants and animals they find.

From December 1803 to May 1804, Lewis and Clark finished building the keelboat they used to travel the thousands of miles Westward. The two men gathered supplies, and finalized plans at the base camp of Camp Wood before they set off for their journey from St. Louis. The Corps of Discovery returned to the Camp Wood site in 1806 at the conclusion of their journey.

Currently, the Lewis and Clark journals and maps from 1804 confirm that the site of Camp Wood is located in a different topographical location than it was originally located. But, Camp Wood itself did not move. During the past 170 years, the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers shifted and placed Camp Wood in its present site. Camp Wood was originally located just south of the Wood River on the eastern shore of the Mississippi.

Since 1804, the Mississippi River has moved east, eventually placing Camp Wood on the western shore. The Wood River moved north and created an entirely new river pattern. The dramatic shifts in the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers have caused Camp Wood to now be located in the state of Missouri, rather than its original location in the state of Illinois due to the state lines defined by the Missouri River.

Researched, written, and narrated by University of West Florida Public History Student Natalie Ray