thumb|George Drouillard

George Drouillard (c. 1773–1810) was a civilian interpreter, scout, hunter, and cartographer, hired for Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase in 1804–1806, in search of a water route to the Pacific Ocean. He later worked as a guide and trapper for Manuel Lisa on the upper Missouri River, joining his Missouri Fur Company in 1809. It is believed that Drouillard was killed in what is now the state of Montana while trapping beaver, in an attack by the Blackfeet or Gros Ventre tribes.

Early life

George Drouillard was born into the Shawnee nation in 1773 (or 1775) in the present-day Olde Sandwich Towne, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, son of Pierre Drouillard, a French Canadian, and Asoundechris Flat Head, a Shawnee. At the time of the American Revolutionary War, Pierre Drouillard was employed by the British Indian Department as a trader and interpreter of the Huron language, of the Iroquoian language family.

As a boy, George Drouillard learned to read and write. He then acquired frontier skills by becoming a hunter, a trapper, and a cartographer. He grew up speaking Shawnee, French, and English. He also was proficient at the sign language common among Native American peoples of different language families.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

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Missouri Fur Company

In 1807, Drouillard traveled again up the Missouri River as part of an expedition led by the Spanish fur trader Manuel Lisa; others in the party included John Potts, Peter Weise and John Colter, all of whom had also been part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. During the winter of 1807–08, Drouillard traveled the lands of the Crow Indians in the Bighorn Mountains. He gathered information which he gave to William Clark after returning to St. Louis; Clark improved his maps of the area with the additions.

Legacy and honors

  • Mount Drouillard (formerly Mount Drewyer) in Teton County, Montana, is named in his honor.
  • The George Drouillard Museum was established in 1996 near Bellefontaine, Ohio by the Shawnee Nation, URB, a state-recognized tribe, as part of their complex including the Zane Shawnee Caverns.
  • March 2013, the Grundy County Heritage Museum in Morrison, Iowa, had an exhibit and program featuring the life of George Drouillard. Darrel Draper of Nebraska performed as the interpreter and hunter.

James Alexander Thom wrote a novel, Sign-Talker (2000), about the life of George Drouillard.

References

Further reading

  • Denis Vaugeois, America 1803–1853 : L'expédition de Lewis et Clark et la naissance d'une nouvelle puissance, Sillery, Septentrion, 2003,
  • M. O. Skarsten, George Drouillard Hunter and Interpreter for Lewis and Clark and Fur Trader, 1807-1810. Glendale, CA: A. H. Clark, 1964.
  • Inside the Corps: "George Drouillard", Lewis and Clark Expedition, PBS
  • "De Remarquables oubliés" Radio-Canada program on George Drouillard