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The Corps had stopped at a settlement founded by Daniel Boone and his family on May 23, 1804. About a mile farther upstream the men came to a small cave, known as Tavern Cave, a noted landmark among the French traders.
On May 23, 1804, or 2 days after leaving St. Charles on their westward trek, Clark and probably some other members of the expedition visited this large cave, located on the south bank of the Missouri at the base of a huge sandstone bluff called Tavern Rock.
The Missouri River washed away all remains of the original village of La Charrette (or Charette) many years ago. When Lewis and Clark were there, the mouth of Charrette Creek was across the river and perhaps seven miles upstream from where it now enters the Missouri opposite the present town of Washington.
Tavern Cave, also known as the Taverne-A Cave, is a historic archaeological site located near St. Albans, Franklin County, Missouri. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark visited Tavern Cave on May 23, 1804 at the beginning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
On May 23, 1804, two days after leaving St. Charles, the Lewis and Clark Expedition visited Tavern Cave. It's located at the south bank of the Missouri River at the base of a huge sandstone bluff called Tavern Rock. This landmark, well known to the Indians, French and Spanish trappers and traders, was first described by Lewis and Clark as:
Pinnacles of rock rise three hundred feet above the river at Tavern Cave, on the south side of the Missouri near the Femme Osage River. While some explored the cave, Lewis climbed the cliff above it, for a view of the surrounding terrain. At the summit he slipped and almost fell.
The trade in peltries that first the French and then the Spanish wanted to develop was primarily upstream—up the Mississippi but especially up the Missouri River. As always, this involved creating and maintaining relationships with the Native people who inhabited that land.
