History of Washington County, Nebraska: Its Early Settlement and Present Status, Resources, Advantages and Future Prospects. E-book. Formato PDF - 9780259684374

The first white settlement made in Nebraska was at a point now included within the boundaries of Washington county, on which the town of Fort Calhoun is located. It was here, also, that the first council was ever held by the whites with the Indians of the then unexplored northwest a vast region of country extending from the lied river of the South to the British possessions, and from the Mississippi to the Pacific ocean.

In 1803 was consumated what is known as the Louisiana purchase, which included the present state of Nebraska, and the attention of the United States government was directed towards exploring and improving the newly acquired territory. Accordingly, in the summer of 1803, an expedition was planned by President Jefferson, for the purpose of discovering the course and sources of the Missouri, and the most convenient water communication thence to the Pacific. His private secretary, Capt. Merriweather Lewis, and Capt. William Clarke, both officers in the army, were detailed to undertake this enterprise. These two officers met at St. Louis in the month of December, intending to pass the winter at La Charrette, the highest settlement on the Missouri, but the Spanish commandant of the province, not having received official notification of the transfer of the province to the United States, refused to allow them to pass through. The party, therefore, encamped on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, which formed the eastern boundary of the Spanish possessions, opposite the mouth of the Missouri. The party was composed of nine young Kentuckians, fourteen soldiers, who had volunteered their services, two French voygeurs, an interpreter and hunter, and a colored servant belonging to Capt. Clarke; all but the latter being enlisted as privates to serve during the expedition, three of their number being appointed sergeants. In addition a corporal, six soldiers, and nine voyageurs, accompanied the expedition as far as the Mandan nation in order to assist in carrying the stores or repelling an Indian assault. The stores consisted of a great variety of clothing, tools, gunlock flints, powder and ball.