William E. Bratton
of the Lewis & Clark Expedition

Vol. 5, Issue 1 October - December, 1995 "The Bratton Bulletin"

A WATER PASSAGE TO THE PACIFIC
On January 18, 1803, following the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, President Thomas Jefferson started making plans to have the territory explored with the hopes of discovering a water passage to the Pacific.  He asked for an appropriation of $2500 to cover the cost of an expedition to ascend the Missouri River to its source and to go on from there to the Pacific Ocean.  He suggested that it be made "for the purpose of extending the external commerce of the United States."  But in reality it was to view the geography; and primarily to investigate a commercial opportunity of very great importance to the U.S.

The expedition was to be commanded by twenty-nine-year-old Captain Meriwether Lewis, First Infantry, U.S.A.  Lewis had had a long experience of military command and wilderness life.  For a short period of time he had been an ensign in a rifle company commanded by Captain William Clark, and the two had developed an enduring respect for each other.  He was 33 years old in 1803.  He, too, had militia service and unlike Lewis had seen considerable Indian fighting.  Lewis was the diplomatic and commercial thinker; Clark the negotiator and medical reckoner.  Plains and Northwest tribes knew of Clark as the "Red Headed Chief," (the nickname being given by Sacajawea) and came to depend on him for friendship and "advocacy."¹

Their company was recruited with good judgment and was physically "hardened" and well disciplined by six months of cantonment life in the winter of 1803-04, on the Illinois shore, opposite the mouth of the Missouri.¹

By the first of April, the men, although still a bit unruly, had been trained and drilled until the Corps of Discovery had taken on a semblance of a military group.  (In later years, Bratton related frequently to his children that instead of switches the men used their ramrods on a culprit, and that blows were "well laid on" in the fear that anyone showing leniency would incur similar punishment. {Gass}

On May 14, 1804, these healthy, hardy young men formed the backbone of the expedition.  These men were about to penetrate a country at least 2000 miles in width on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden. {Lewis}

ENTERS WILLIAM BRATTON
Born on July 29, 1778, William Bratton was the son of George and Jane Elliot Bratton; Grandson of Captain Robert Bratton (born 1712 in Ireland) and Anne McFarland Dunlap.  His middle name may have been Elliott [as some believe to be his mother's maiden name].  The "E" was adopted during his Indiana years to distinguish him from another William Bratton, probably his cousin who also lived near Waynetown, Indiana, and with whom he has often been confused.  (To add to the confusion, other sources say that William Bratton was the son of James and Rebecca Bratton and was born in Augusta County, Virginia ⁷)

Bratton served an apprenticeship at an early age with a blacksmith and took advantage of school facilities available to him at that period.⁷

When the Lewis and Clark Expedition was organized to explore the Louisiana Territory, William E. Bratton was living in Augusta County, Virginia.  [However, most sources say he was "one of the men from Kentucky."]  Arrested by the opportunity to see the Great West, the young man enlisted as a private in the company recruited by Meriwether Lewis.  He was 26 years old at the time.

Except for a period of illness, William Bratton took an active and important part in the three years adventure in the west.  He acted in many capacities such as scout, messenger, canoe builder, hunter, military policeman, and general handyman.  He became an excellent gunsmith and blacksmith on the expedition and was in charge of the detail that distilled salt when the expedition ran short of that essential.²

Private Bratton was in the third squad of the expedition.  Being of "Scotch-Irish" descent, Bratton was a tough, yet disciplined man.  He was nearly six feet tall, some believe he had red hair, square of build, very straight and erect, rather reserved, economical, very intelligent, and of the strictest morals.  He was often referred to as "Bret."

DIARY ACCOUNTS
There are over 107 books about the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Portland, Oregon, are public libraries, so we naturally cannot include all stories.  A few excerpts of interest, particularly about William Bratton, during the expedition follow:

• When Moses Reed deserted the group, Bratton was one of those dispatched to bring him back dead or alive.  Of course they wanted the ["publick"] horse back alive.

• On July 9th, 1804, the expedition set out early.  Bratton was sent back to the Creek to blaze some trees so the hunters might see they had passed.

• Bratton found a large quantity of Calamus (they called it "sweet flag") opposite where they camped on July 19, 1804.  They used this to supplement their meal, having also shot two deer that same evening.

• Bratton must have been well thought of, as he was one of the three men nominated as a successor to Sergeant Floyd after he died (supposedly from appendicitis).  "Bret" was not elected, however.

• On January 6, 1805, the wind was high and blustery.  "Bratton caught a fox in a steel trap where it had [gnawed] a hole through the pickets.  It had frequently come through into the Garrison after bones where we divided the meat."

THE MONSTER GRIZZLY
On Saturday, May 11, 1805, some of the party proceeded on past Black Bluffs. Bratton, who had a lame hand and could not ply the oars, was walking on shore. Towards evening he came "running and hollering to the perogues [pirogues]" chased by a bear which he had badly wounded. He had been chased a mile and a half and reached the boat so much out of breath that for several minutes he was unable to tell what had happened. Lewis went with seven men in search of the 'monster." They followed the trail of the grizzly's blood for over a mile, finding him yet full of life. Although shot through the lungs by Bratton, the mighty creature had summoned the strength to dig a bed in the earth two feet deep and five feet long. It took two more balls through the skull to kill him. "These bear being so hard to die," noted Lewis" reather intimedates us all. I must confess that I do not like the gentlemen [grizzlies] and had reather fight two Indians than one bear." ¹

SALT MAKER'S CAMP & WHALE
Bratton was in charge of the detail to boil sea water to extract salt. In seven weeks the four men working in the distillery obtained a total of 20 gallons of salt, carefully storing most of it in kegs for use in curing meat during the return journey.

Sometime in January, "Bill" Bratton discovered a whale stranded on the beach. It was palatable and tender, tasting much like the fat from beaver or pork. Bill Bratton left the salt camp, taking some of the blubber to the men at the main camp. Clark was so enthusiastic about I, he took a company and headed toward the Tillamook Head. Upon arriving at the destination, it was found that the Tillamook Indians had stripped off everything that could either be eaten or boiled down for oil. Clark was able to dicker with the Indians and procured about 300 pounds of blubber and a few gallons of oil.

ILLNESS STRIKES
"The inescapable dampness gave nearly everyone colds or rheumatism. A number of the men had acquired infections and illnesses which Lewis treated vigorously. The most interesting, however, was Private Bratton's." ¹

While at the salt-maker's camp near Fort Clatsop on February 10, 1806, Bratton was reported as "very unwell." He was permitted to return to the Fort but was so weak that he had to be carried there in a litter. He rode prone in the canoe, and he had to be carried over portages and carefully helped on horseback the entire way until they neared Idaho.

Clark stated that he ... "appears much reduced with his late indisposition but is now recovering fast." On February 15, however... "Bratton is still very weak and complains of a pain in he lower part of the back when he moves ..." On the 19th Clark gave him "6 of Scotts pills" [undetermined as to what that was] which did not work for him. The next day he had an obstinate cough and the pain in his back was still strong. He also appeared to be getting weaker. The 21st, Lewis gave him another dose of Scott's pills; on the 22nd they considered him "on the recovery." But on March 6, Clark said, "Bratten is now weaker than any of the convalescaants and complains very much of his back, all of them recovering slowing in consequence of want of proper diet, which we have not in our power to procure."

On March 7, Lewis wrote: "Bratton is much worse today, he complains of a violent pain in the small of his back and is unable in consequence to set up. We gave him one of our flanel shirts, applyed a bandage of flannel to the part and bathed and rubed it well with some vollatile linniment which I prepared with sperits of wine, camphor, castile soap and a little laudinum. He felt himself better in the evening.

On March 8th, Bratton was much better, but his back was still in pain. It did not let up, as the next day he complained of his beck being very painful again. The men thought it to be a type of rheumatism and continued to apply liniment and flannel. Nothing would cure the ailment, however, and after the start of the return journey Bratton grew much worse. Eventually he was to be cured with dramatic suddenness. ¹

On May 24, 1806, Lewis stated that William Bratton still continued very unwell ... "He ate heartily, digested his food well, and had recovered his flesh almost perfectly; yet he was so weak in the loins that he was unable to walk or sit upright without terrible pain."

Fearful that they might lose Bratton on the hard trip over Lolo, John Shields told about how he had seen other men in a similar situation restored by violent sweats. Bratton requested that he be experimented on with this treatment.

"Shields dug a hole three feet in diameter and four feet deep, and in it kindled a large fire. When the hole had become thoroughly heated, the fire was removed, a seat placed in the hole for the sick man to sit on, a thick covering of layers of blankets erected over it. In this device Bratton was subjected for 20 minutes to as severe a steam or vapor bath as he could endure. He was then taken our 'suddenly plunged in the water twice,' and immediately returned to the sweat hole for another three-quarters of an hour, during which time he drank copious draughts of a strong tea made of horsemint. The day after this heroic 'experiment'' had been made, the patient was walking about and professed himself nearly free from pain; from this time his recover was rapid. ⁴

Bratton's illness extended from February to June of 1806. Many historians have given their thoughts as to what Bratton's problem was, stating that Lumbago might have been the problem. Others thinking a 5th lumbar may have been dislocated.

Bratton and Colter were permitted on June 5, 1806, to visit the Indian village to trade for roots and bread. "They made a good return."

The expedition took about three years to reach St. Louis on its return trip, September , 1806. When they arrived, William Bratton was discharged wit honors. ²

Congress approved rewards to the men on March 3, 1807. They were paid on the basis of $8 monthly for sergeants, $5 for privates, and $25 for interpreters. private Bratton received $178.33 1/3 in pay. 3 Another source stated that all the men were granted 320 acres of government land, as well.

Like many in the company, Bratton was honored by having a river and/or a creek in Montana named for him. "Bratten's River" was named on July 17, 1806, and was obviously a tributary of the Yellowstone and Jefferson rivers. 2 It is believed hat the waterway in 1893 was called "Bridger's River" or "Bridger's Creek" and on today's maps enters the Yellowstone River from the south about half-way between the present Livingston and Columbus, Montana. ⁷

His connection with the Lewis and Clark expedition is documented on the plaque commemorating the exhibition at "Gates of the Mountains" near Helena, Montana; also by the Floyd monument, erected by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company near Sioux City, Iowa, in 1900.

BACK TO THE MILITARY AND "PERSONAL" LIFE
Considering the historic journey only a duty for which he volunteered, "Bret" Bratton went on with his life. Following the expedition, he returned to Kentucky. He lived their for a time, but returned to Missouri where he lived near John Ordway for a few years. He enlisted from Kentucky for the War of 1812. He served as a Private in Captain Paschal Hickman's Company of riflemen, 1st Rifle Regiment. He was one of those who surrendered at Frenchtown (now Monroe, Michigan) on January 12, 1813. He sold his warrant for land to a Mr. Samuel Barclay in 1816. ⁹

He was also in the volunteer Militia, Lt. Col. John Allen, August 15, 1812 to March 5, 1813. In the Battle of Tippecanoe he saw Tecumseh after he was slain, and his elaborately beaded shot pouch and powder horn are valued heirlooms of the family. He was taken prisoner at Frenchtown on January 22, 1813. ⁸

William Bratton also served in the west, taking part of the Battle of the Thames. After the war he settled in Vigo County, Indiana, where he operated a general store. When the 1818 treaty with the Indians opened a new purchase of land, he moved to Wayne Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, and was one of the early settlers there.

Having already had his great adventure with the country beyond the Mississippi River, his need for further adventure apparently was satisfied by an occasional deer or bear hunt in he wilds of Ripley township.

At the age of 41, (November 24, 1819) William married Miss Mary H. "Polly" Maxwell (1796-1878), and the couple resided for a time at Greenville, Ohio.

By the year 1822, William located on some land at Waynetown, Indiana. The couple parented eight sons and two daughters. He became a farmer, was elected the first Justice of the Peace of Wayne township in June, 1824, and was a leader in religion and education.

His interests in the church and school must have been passed to his children, as his descendants were listed among the founders of Wesley Church and Wesley Academy. These institutions were important contributors to the educational and religious development of Wayne Township. ⁶

William Bratton died at Waynetown, Indiana, on November 11, 1841. He is buried in the pioneer cemetery there. His large family now has many descendants all over the United States.

There is a plaque at the site of the Lewis and Clark salt works that mentions William Bratton. 

Sources:
1 Abstracts from "The Journals of Lewis and Clark" edited by Bernard DeVoto; The American Heritage Library 1953.
2 "Indiana History, Crawfordsville, Indiana" from the Montgomery County Library; and "The Bratton Historian" Vol. 1, #4, 1978.
3 "The Men of Lewis and Clark" by Fritz Timmen, Oregon Historical Society.
4 "The Journals of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Sergeant John Ordway Kept on the E expedition of Western Exploration, 1803-1806", Edited by Milo M. Quaife, The state Historical Society of Wisconsin.
5 "Two Captains West", by Albert and Jane Salisbury, 1950, Seattle, WA.
6 News article of Dec. 28, 1955. "Lafayette Journal and Courier" by Dr. T.G. Geornert.
7 "William Bratton--One of Lewis and Clark's Men." by Robert E. Lange, Editor, "We Proceeded On.
8 "Heroes of 1812", written by members of the Nebraska Society of US Daughters of 1 812; 1930.
9 "Biographical Roster of the Corps

other sources:
"Biddles History of the Expedition" edited by Elliott Coues
"The Men of Lewis & Clark" by Fritz Timmen
"Bratton Served with Lewis and Clark" by Pat Cline
"Sacajawea--a Historic Novel by Anna Lee Waldo
"The Trail of Lewis and Clark" by Olin D. Wheeler.

Source documentation used by direct permission of the publisher of "The Bratton Bulletin".

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