John Shields (1769-1809) - A Private and Explorer with the Lewis & Clark Expedition

The story of John Shields was an unexpected and great find in my genealogy research. He is a distant cousin of my husband, 2nd cousin 5 times removed - or in other words - a 2nd cousin 5 generations back. His great grandfather, Davis Stockton, is Mike's 6th great grandfather. The ancestry lineage to the Stocktons is through Mike's mother, Margaret Alice Zeigler Hilliard. In DNA matches Davis Stockton is what is known as the most recent common ancestor between Mike and John Shields.

John Shields was born about 1769 in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley near Harrisonburg, Virginia.  His parents, Robert Shields and Nancy Stockton were married in Virginia in 1761. They had a large family, eleven sons and one daughter. One of their sons, Ezekiel, died as an infant in 1778. The other 10 sons became known as "The Ten Brothers" and these were their names in birth order as best as I have been able to determine:  Thomas (1763-1797), Richard (1764- ?), David (1766- ?), William (1768- ?), John (1769-1809), James (1770- ?), Robert (1772- ?), Joseph (1773- ?), Benjamin (1780- ?), and Jesse (1782- ?). They were all born in Augusta County, Virginia which is now Rockingham County between the years 1762 and 1782.

In 1784 Robert and Nancy Shields, and many other Scotch-Irish settlers, moved their large families from Virginia to what is now Sevier (pronounced "severe") County, Tennessee. They settled on the bank of Middle Creek which flows into Little Pigeon and eventually a tributary of the French Broad River. Not long after the migration of settlers to this new frontier territory the Indian raids and massacres began. The ten brothers and their father built Shields Fort which is located near the present-day town of Pigeon Forge. Almost all of the early settlers lived in forts for protection from Indian raids as well as share in the hunting, gathering, farming, and socializing. Forts could be occupied by several families or a single family. Each family had their own log cabin and the log cabins were entirely enclosed by walls about 12 feet high made with logs sharpened at the top, a double gate and usually a small rear exit to have access to a spring for water. The Shields family lived with their children and grandchildren in Shields Fort for over ten years. Thomas, the oldest son, was killed in 1797 at the age of 34 in a vicious attack by Indians. He was ambushed, shot and scalped by Indians while hauling water to boil with sap from his sugar trees. He was the only one of their family who was killed by Indians. 

Historical reconstruction of Fort Nashborough,
a forerunner to the city of Nashville.

While living in the wild, untamed land in Tennessee, John Shields learned the trade of blacksmithing, ran a gristmill, gained experience in hunting, survival in frontier conditions as well as knowledge and experience in dealing with Indians. This was the land of the great pioneer Daniel Boone who moved on about a year before the Shields family arrived stating, "I must be moving on; why a man has taken up a cabin not twenty-five miles from my door."

Historical Map, Sevier County, Tennessee
Thomas Stockton & Shields Fort

In 1790 John Shields married a young woman named Nancy White whose name has not yet been proven with documents or records. They only had one child, a daughter named Martha Jenette "Jennie" Shields.  In 1806, Jennie married her first cousin John Tipton in Harrison County, Indiana.  John Tipton was the son of John Shields's only sister Janet and her husband Joshua Tipton.  On the 18th of April 1793, John's brother Joseph and his brother-in-law Joshua Tipton were ambushed by Cherokee Indians. Joshua was killed and Joseph was severely injured but survived. According to one source, John and Jennie Tipton had two sons, one whose name is unknown and the other son, Spier (or Spear) Tipton who graduated from West Point. The Tipton's marriage didn't last and they divorced in 1816. 

In June of 1803, Congress appropriated $2,500 to mount an official expedition to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and establish trade with Native Americans along the Missouri River. Another object of the expedition was to find a waterway from what was the current United States to the Pacific Ocean before Britain and other European powers claimed it. President Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Meriwether Lewis, who was his personal secretary and aide, requesting him to lead the most important expedition in American history. Lewis recruited his friend and former commanding officer William Clark to share command of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 

Route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
(Victor van Werkhooven, own work)

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark established criteria for the positions needed for the expedition and Captain Clark was put in charge of the recruitment of the best men to join the expedition. The men had to be excellent hunters with a variety of skills and ingenuity to ensure their survival in the wilderness. They also preferred unmarried men. Clark, knowing where to find the best and most experienced men for the journey into the unknown, headed to Louisville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee at the Falls of the Ohio. 

On the 19th of October 1803, John Shields was recruited and enlisted as a private with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. And so began the greatest journey of a lifetime! Shields and fellow Kentuckians became known as "Nine Young Men from Kentucky". An exception to the rule of only unmarried men was made for Shields - and it more than paid off. At the age of 34, Shields became the oldest member of the Corps of Discovery. He possessed immaculate skills as a blacksmith, gunsmith, hunter, mechanic, and craftsman.


On May 14, 1804, the Corps of Discovery departed from Camp Dubois at 4:00 p.m. The route of the Lewis and Clark expedition was up the Missouri River to its headwaters, then on to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia River. They traveled in three boats - a 55-foot long keelboat and two pirogues over 40-feet in length. The Corps of Discovery included Meriwether Lewis, William Clark,
4 sergeants, 23 privates, Clark's black servant York, Drouillard, a hunter and translator, and Seaman, Captain Lewis' Newfoundland dog.

Keelboat and Pirogues

It wasn't long before the Corps of Discovery suffered a tragedy. Charles Floyd, one of the "Nine Young Men from Kentucky", was the first and only member to die during the expedition. He died on August 20, 1804, from "bilious cholic" which is known today as a ruptured appendix. He was buried in Sioux City, Iowa and his gravesite is marked by a 100-foot high sandstone obelisk. Lewis & Clark honored him by naming a Missouri River tributary Floyd River.

There are 240 references to John Shields in the Lewis and Clark Journals and 70 of those references are in regard to his success in hunting. The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition are full of interesting and unimaginable experiences of daily life, new discoveries of unknown animals, plants, medicine, Native American tribes and natural wonders of this beautiful and virgin land.

There are a few excerpts from entries in these journals regarding John Shields that reflect on his character, skills, and ingenuity which I have included at various intervals. I have written these excerpts verbatim - slang, misspellings, grammar, etc.

Journal of Sergeant John Ordway:

"Friday, 14th September 1804  ..... John Shields who went on Shore with the horse killed a verry large white rabbit or hare it was as big as a Ureopian hare. --- nearly all white---& of a different discription of any one ever yet Seen in the States."

The first description of the white-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus townsendii previously unknown to science. John Shields discovered what was later named a Jack rabbit.

In late October 1804, the expedition arrived at the Mandan Indian villages in North Dakota. They made their winter camp among the friendly tribes of Mandan and Hidatsa Indians where corn and buffalo meat would be plentiful. In early November the men started building their winter quarters which they called Fort Mandan. It was not completed until Christmas Day but they moved in earlier due to the extreme cold weather. The men wintered at Fort Mandan until April 7th. During their six month stay with the Mandan-Hidatsa Indians they learned what to expect on the next leg of their journey, how to communicate with other tribes, and various routes along the trails. On November 4th, Toussaint Charbonneau, a French Canadian trader living in the Hidatsa village was hired as an interpreter along with his Shoshoni wife, Sacagawea, who had been captured by the Hidatsas Indians five years previously. On February 11, 1805, Sacagawea gave birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. In the Lewis & Clark journals, Sacagawea is often referred to as the "Indian woman". She was invaluable in more ways than just an interpreter and Clark said this of her, "The wife of Shabono our interpetr we find reconsiles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentions ...a woman with a party of men is a token of peace."

In the winter of 1804-1805, Shields is credited with hammering battle axes from iron lumps which were traded to the Indians for food. Lewis reported that the battle axes went a long way in preventing the men from starving that winter.

Journal of Captain Meriwether Lewis:

"Wednesday, 5th February 1805.....visited by many of the natives who brought a considerable quantity of corn in payment for the work which the blacksmith had done for them--- they are pecuarly attatched to a battle ax formed in a very inconvenient manner in my opinion.  it is fabricated of iron only."

Battle Ax, February 5, 1805
(figure sketched by Lewis)

In the first week of April 1805, the keelboat was sent back to St. Louis with a crew of six soldiers and two Frenchmen as well as many boxes, a trunk, and cages with a variety of specimens and animals to be delivered to President Jefferson. On April 7, 1805, the permanent party of the Corps of Discovery set out to continue their exploration. Additions to the expedition included Charbonneau, Sacagawea, John Baptist, who was less than two months old, and a Mandan man who agreed to take them to the Shoshoni nation.

Journal of Captain Meriwether Lewis:
"Monday, 20th May 1805 ..... Shields also found a bould spring or fountain issuing from the foot of the Lard. hills about 4 miles up the Missouri; a fountain in this plain country is a great novelty; I have not see a bould fountain of pure water except one since I left Mandans."

During the winter months at Fort Mandan the Indians told Lewis and Clark about the "great falls" of the Missouri River. On June 13th Captain Lewis would reach the Great Falls of the Missouri River. The passages in his journal were almost poetic describing what he heard and saw for the next few days. A couple of observations in his words:   "...my ears were saluted with the agreeable sound of a fall of water and advancing a little further I saw the spray arise above the plain like a collumn of smoke. ... I now thought that if a skillfull painter had been asked to make a beautiful cascade that he would most probably have presented the precise immage of this one. ...pleasingly beautiful and sublimely grand." It took the party almost two weeks to portage boats and equipment around the falls.

Lewis wrote that on August 8th Sacagawea recognized a high plain her people called Beaverhead Rock and informed them that they were not far from the summer retreat of her nation on a river beyond the mountains which runs west. Lewis decided to go out the next day with a small party to find the source of the principal stream of this river and a pass through the mountains to the Columbia then proceed down the Columbia until he found the Shoshone village. He set out the next morning after breakfast accompanied by George Drouillard, an interpreter, Hugh McNeal, and John Shields to explore the river, find the Snake Indians (Shoshoni), and a route if possible. It was important to find the Shoshoni in hopes that the Indians would provide horses for them - without horses they would not be able to continue. A couple of days later Lewis and Drouillard spotted an Indian on horseback and tried to approach him but when the Indian saw McNeal and Shields coming over a hill direction he took off fearing there would be many more men. They knew they were on the right path to find the Shoshoni village.

Lewis and Clark Reach Shoshone Camp Led by Sacagawea
by Charles Mario Russell, 1918

Journal of Meriwether Lewis:
"Monday, 12th August 1805..... at a distance of 4 miles further the road took us to the most distant fountain of the waters of the mighty Missouri in surch of which we have spent so many toilsome days and wristless nights.  thus far I had accomplished one of those great objects on which my mind has been unalterably fixed for many years, judge then of the pleasure I felt in allying my thirst with this pure and ice cold water which issues from the base of a low mountain or hill of a gentle ascent for 1/2 a mile.  the mountains are high on either hand leave this gap at the head of this rivulet through which the road passes.  here I halted a few minutes and rested myself.....after refreshing ourselves we proceeded on to the top of the dividing ridge from which I discovered immence ranges of high mountains still to the West of us...".

When Lewis climbed the dividing ridge at Lemhi Pass he expected to see from the summit a vast plain to the west and a short overland trek to the headwaters of the Columbia River which would take them to the Pacific - the Northwest Passage that had been the goal of explorers since the time of Columbus. Instead, all he could see were miles of mountain tops.

Lewis, Shields, McNeal, and Drouillard were the first Americans to cross the Continental Divide through Lemhi Pass and look upon Idaho and the northwestern territory. The day after crossing the Divide, Lewis met a band of Shoshoni and sent for Clark and the others. When Sacajawea arrived she discovered that the leader of the Shoshoni band, Chief Cameahwait, was her brother who she had not seen since she had been kidnapped by the Hidatsas Indians. This family connection helped the Corps acquire horses, information, and a Shoshoni guide named Old Toby to help them.

Lewis' First Glimpse of the Rockies
by Olaf Seltzer

Lemhi Pass, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Montana
National Register of Historic Places

The Corps had many difficulties crossing the Bitterroot Mountains in mid-September. Old Toby, the Shoshoni guide lost the trail in the steep, heavily wooded mountains, a couple of pack horses lost their footing and rolled down the steep embankment, and they ran short on provisions and had to butcher a horse for food. They were very weak and nearly starving by the time they spotted the Nez Percé Indian lodges. The Nez Percé befriended this strange party and fed them dried salmon, berries, camas roots, and bread made from the roots. Captain Clark cautioned the men of the consequences of eating too much after being so hungry. They ate heartily and most became ill from gluttony and probably a lack of tolerance to the change in their diet. Captain Lewis also became very ill and Clark administered "Rushes Thunderbolts" to the sick. This medicine which contained potent laxatives, was developed by Benjamin Rush, a physician.

Chief Twisted Hair taught the men how to use fire to hollow out pine trees and make new canoes. Then they guided the party down the Clearwater River to a tributary of the Snake River which would lead them to the Columbia River and from there to the Pacific Ocean.

The journey continued and on November 7, 1805, William Clark wrote in his journal "Great joy in camp we are in View of the Ocian, this great Pacific Ocean which we been So long anxious to See, and the roreing or noise made by the waves brakeing on the Shores (as I Suppose) may be heard distictly."

In December, the Corps built Fort Clatsop, named in honor of the local Indian tribe, on the south side of the Columbia (near present-day Astoria, Oregon) for winter shelter, protection and to establish an American presence there with the American flag flying over the fort. Their time there was peaceful  but not particularly pleasant due to the damp weather - rain fell all but twelve days of the the three-month stay. The furs and hides rotted and almost everyone suffered an illness such as constant colds and rheumatism.

Journal of Captain Meriwether Lewis:
Thursday, March 20th, 1806 "but for the precaution taken in bringing on those extra locks, and parts of locks, in addition to the ingenuity of John Shields, most of our guns would at this moment been untirely unfit for use; but fortunately for us I have it in my power here to record that they are all in good order."

On March 23, 1806, the Corps left Fort Clatsop to began the journey home and gifted the fort to a Clatsop leader. The party backtracked across familiar terrain and battled against strong currents on the trip up the Columbia River. Their plan was to retrieve their horses from the Nez Percé and stay there until the mountain snow melted. 

While at Camp Chopunnish (Lewis' name for the Nez Percé tribe), John Shields came up with a cure for one of the men, William Bratton, who had been suffering from extreme pain in the lower back which had prevented him from sitting or walking. Shields recommended "violent sweats" which he had seen restore men with similar problems. On May 24th, Shields dug a 4-foot deep hole in the ground, placed stones in the bottom and heated them with fire, then removed the coals and provided a seat where Bratton could sit naked with a vessel of water to sprinkle on the hot stones, producing steam.  He fashioned a low tent with willow poles and blankets to cover the hole. Bratton endured the steam for 20 minutes while drinking "copious draughts" of a strong tea of horsemint. He was then taken out and twice plunged into the cold river. He spent another three-quarters of an hour in the steam then wrapped in blankets to cool off gradually. The next day he was able to walk around camp nearly free from pain and slowly regained his strength.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                June 10th the Corps once again set out to continue their journey. When they reached Lolo Pass - before crossing the Continental Divide - Lewis and Clark had decided to split up in order to gather more geographical information.

On July 3, 1806, Lewis and nine men went north to the Great Falls of the Missouri and explored Marias River. Clark's group, including John Shields, Sacagawea, and her family, went south and explored along the Yellowstone River. The two groups would rendevous where the Yellowstone and Missouri met in North Dakota.

Captain Clark named a tributary of the Yellowstone River, the Shields River in honor of John Shields. It is east of Livingston, Montana and one of the few place names honoring enlisted men that remain.

Shields River

On September 23, 1806, the Corps of Discovery arrived in St. Louis, ending their journey after two years, four months, and ten days, traveling over 8,000 miles, costing $40,000 of taxpayer money, and losing only one member of their party.

After returning home Shields learned that Jonathan Clark, the captain's brother and business agent in his absence, had sent his wife Nancy 21 bushels of corn and four dollars. Jonathan may also have delivered a buffalo robe that Shields sent home from Fort Mandan for his wife.

On January 15, 1807, Capt. Meriwether Lewis wrote to the U.S. Secretary of War, Henry Dearborn: "John Sheilds [sic] has received the pay only of a private. Nothing was more peculiarly useful to us in various situations than the skill and ingenuity of this man as an artist, in repairing our guns, accoutrements, &c. and should it be thought proper to allow him something as an artificer, he has well deserved it."

Shortly after returning from the expedition, John Shields spent a year trapping in Missouri with Daniel Boone, who some historians believe was a kinsman of Shields. In 1807, the Shields family settled in Harrison County, Indiana where he hunted and trapped with Squire Boone, Daniel's brother.

John Shields died in 1809 at 40 years of age and just three years after returning home. There is a headstone in the Little Flock Baptist Cemetery in Crandall, Harrison County, Indiana.

A state historical marker to the memory of John Shields is located near the Harrison County Courthouse in Corydon, Indiana.

I wanted this writing to be about John Shields and his life but it was hard not to get caught up in sharing more and more of the Lewis & Clark expedition. I think it took me longer to edit than write. Although not long, John Shields' journey in life was filled with magnificent scenes of raging rivers, wildlife and plant species he never knew existed, mountains and trees greater in size than anyone could imagine, diverse nations of native Indians, and camaraderie of fellow explorers that made it all possible.

For those of you wanting to know more about the Lewis & Clark Expedition, there is an abundance of information in books and on numerous websites dedicated to the expedition and everyone related to it. I highly recommend seeing the great documentary, Lewis and Clark, The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, A Film by Ken Burns (http://kenburns.com/films/lewis-clark/).

The best way to describe The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition is that they are amazing! In the biography of Meriwether Lewis and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, author Stephen E. Ambrose said, "The journals are one of America's literary treasures."

Notes:
John Shields's wife's name has not been proven with any documents or records. Wikipedia contributors, "John Shields (explorer)" gives Nancy White as her name but with no citation.

Zella Armstrong's book Notable Southern Families, Vol. 1 states, "His wife was a White, sister of Hugh Lawson White who ran for President against Jackson and Adams in 1828." Zella Armstrong is a well-known and highly respected researcher, compiler, and author. This is the statement regarding her sources for this volume, "Hundreds of histories, court records and family documents have been examined in the preparation of this volume."


Sources

1. Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage, Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, New York, NY: Touchstone, 1997, 108.

2. Shields, John Arthur. (1917). The Shields family: particularly the oldest and most numerous branch of that family in our America; an account of the ancestor and descendents [sic] of The ten brothers of Sevier County, in Tennessee, Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://archive.org/details/shieldsfamilypar00inshie/page/n3/mode/2up

3. Augusta County (Va.)., Chalkley, L., Lockwood, M. S. (Mary Smith)., Chalkley, L. (191213). Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia: extracted from the original court records of Augusta County, 1745-1800. Rosslyn, Va.: Printers: The Commonwealth Printing Co.
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009029527/Home 

4. Full text of the Lewis and Clark journals -- edited by Gary E. Moulton, University of Nebraska--Lincoln   https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/

5. Wikipedia contributors, Lewis and Clark Expedition. In Wikipedia, The Free  Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition (accessed March 20, 2020).

6. Wikipedia contributors, "John Shields (explorer)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shields_(explorer) (accessed March 20, 2020).

7. Wikipedia contributors, "Shields River," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shields_River (accessed March 20, 2020).

8. Discovering Lewis & Clark, http://www.lewis-clark.org/
Sponsored by: Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation, Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, National Park Service, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

9. Lewis and Clark in Kentucky, The Kentucky Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, https://www.lewisandclarkinkentucky.org/index.html

10. National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, Gateway Arch, National Park Missouri, St. Louis, MO, https://www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/historyculture/corps-of-discovery.htm

11. Map, Route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Victor van Werkhooven), Own work. This file was derived from: Carte Lewis-Clark Expedition-en.png, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32915075

12. Headstone photo: Woodhill added to Find A Grave November 13, 2003.

13. Armstrong, Z., French, J. Preston Collup. (19181933). Notable Southern Families, 6 volumes. Chattanooga, Tenn.: Lookout Pub. Co., 1: 208.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89062951330