Today the dogs and I had a breakfast invitation. We drove up to St. Helens, Oregon, a cute little town just north and west of Portland on the Columbia River. My friends Ken and Jen have a house with a fenced yard there, and they always welcome my dogs with open arms.
After breakfast, we took a walk down to the waterfront. There’s a cute park in front of City Hall with a winding path made from tiles. Many of the tiles have quotes from the actual travel diaries Lewis and Clark wrote when they were making their way west. It was interesting to see things like shopping lists, what they traded for, and what they thought of the natives they met along the way.
At the waterfront itself, there is a memorial to a Newfoundland dog named Seaman. Moose walked up and very cautiously sniffed the rear end of the gigantic statue — some folks in the park got a kick out of that! The sign nearby explained that Seaman was Meriwether Lewis’ dog, purchased for $20 in 1803 (the same year of the Louisiana Purchase.) Seaman was mascot, hunter, and protector all in one. Lewis often praised the dog’s “sagacity”.
The dog would hunt and kill squirrels and other small game, bringing the prizes back to his master for the travelers to eat. Seaman was injured in May, 1805 while retrieving a beaver. The animal bit the dog’s hind leg; Lewis feared the injury would prove fatal. Later that same month, according to Lewis’ journal, Seaman saved the group from a large buffalo. The beast approached the camp, but the dog managed to direct the bull’s attention elsewhere. Lewis credits Seaman with the heroics. On other occasions, the Newfoundland dog barked to alert the explorers of bears nearby.
Native Americans that the party encountered offered to buy Seaman from the expedition. One Shawnee Indian offered three beaver skins for the dog.
As for the fate of the four-footed explorer? The journals don’t say. The last mention of Seaman comes in July 1806, and deals with the mosquitoes that plagued the dog. We may never know how far this amazing pup traveled!