John Ordway

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Sergeant John Ordway (c. 1775-c. 1817), the youngest of ten siblings, was an important part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition across the United States. John Ordway was the only sergeant from the United States Army who stepped forward as a volunteer for the expedition. Ordway had many responsibilities on the trip, such as issuing the provisions, appointing guard duties, and keeping the registers and records. John Ordway also kept a journal during the expedition.

Sergeant John Ordway was probably born in 1775 in the town of Dunbarton, New Hampshire. Sergeant Ordway was recruited for the journey at Fort Kaskaskia. He was 29 years old and one of the few educated men on the trip. The expedition lasted from May 1804 to September 1806.

Before the journey, John Ordway sent a message to his parents telling them of the purpose and determination of the expedition:

We are to ascend the Missouri River with a boat as far as it is navigable and then go by land, to the western ocean, if nothing prevents, &c. This party consists of 25 picked Men of the army & country and I am So happy as to be one of the, pick'd Men...We are to start in ten days up the Missouri River...We expect to be gone 18 months or two years...If we make Great Discoveries as we expect, the united States, has promised to make us Great Rewards more than we are promised, &c."

In February 1804, during the staging of the journey, while Ordway was in charge, some of the men became drunk while they were on their guard duty. In another incident on March 29, 1804, Privates John Shields and John Colter threatened Ordway's life. Both were put on trial for mutiny. However, both of them pleaded for, and received, forgiveness.

On the trip back to St. Louis, Missouri, where they started, John Ordway was asked to lead 10 men back to the head of the Jefferson River, where the Corps had left their canoes before crossing the mountains. They were to follow the river and travel to the Missouri River, where they would meet Lewis and Clark. This was done successfully. When Ordway returned, he married Gracy and became a successful landowner. He became the owner of two plantations, peach and apple orchards, which became very prosperous. Finally, in about 1817, Sergeant John Ordway and his wife Gracy died, leaving no survivors.