George Shannon

Who was George Shannon?

George Shannon, the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was born in Pennsylvania. He joined the Corps of Discovery in August 1803, as one of the three men from Pittsburgh recruited by Lewis as he was waiting for the completion of the voyage's vessels in the city.

During the trip, Shannon got lost on two occasions. On August 26, 1804, he was sent to retrieve two pack horses; he was separated from the party for sixteen days and nearly starved, as he went without food for twelve days except for some grapes and rabbits. At first he thought he was behind the expedition, so he sped up thinking he could catch up. Then, getting hungry, he went downstream to look for a trading party he could stay with. Finally John Colter was sent to find him.

Shannon got lost again August 6, 1805, when the expedition was at the Three Forks. He was dispatched up a fork the party had named Wisdom. He rejoined the party after three days by backtracking to the forks and following the trail of the others.

In 1807 he was with a party led by Nathaniel Pryor that was attempting to return the Mandan chief Sheheke to his people.