Title: Venereal disease and the Lewis and Clark expedition
First published: 2004
Description: One of the greatest challenges faced by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis on their 1804-6 Corps of Discovery expedition was that of medical emergencies on the trail. Without an attending physician, even routine ailments and injuries could have tragic consequences for the expedition's success and the safety of its members. Of these dangers, the most insidious and potentially devastating was the slow, painful, and oftentimes fatal ravage of venereal disease. The author delves into the world of nineteenth-century medicine, uncovering the expedition's very real fear of venereal disease. Lewis and Clark knew they were unlikely to prevent their men from forming sexual liaisons on the trail, so they prepared for the consequences of encounters with potentially infected people, as well as the consequences of preexisting disease, by stocking themselves with medicine and the latest scientific knowledge from the best minds in America. Lewis and Clark's expedition encountered Native peoples who experienced venereal disease as a result of liaisons with French, British, Spanish, and Canadian travelers and had their own methods for curing its victims, or at least for easing the pain it inflicted.
Subjects: History, Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806), Medicine, Sexually transmitted diseases, Medicine, united states, Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84018492, Expeditions, History, 19th Century
Places: United States
Time periods: 19th century
LC classification: F592.7 .L89 2004