Red River Expeditions
On March 13, 1804, Thomas Jefferson (who by then was President) wrote to Dunbar, charging him with the task of assembling the first scientific expedition into the lower Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson sanctioned four such expeditions altogether: the famous 1804 Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition to the northern territory of the Louisiana Purchase, Willam Dunbar's Red River expedition of 1804, the Red River Expedition (1806) of Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis, and the Zebulon Pike expedition in 1806–1807.
Jefferson assigned George Hunter, a prominent Philadelphia chemist and also a Scot, to be second in command to Dunbar. The proposed southern journey was later called the Grand Expedition. The trip was drastically altered due to friction with the Osage Indians and Spanish colonial officials, resulting in a shorter journey.
On October 16, 1804, Dunbar and Hunter set off with a party of 15 on the expedition, which lasted just under three months. They explored the Red River and the Black and Ouachita rivers, and brought back a wealth of scientific information, geological surveys, records of flora and fauna as well as the first detailed chemical analysis of the Hot Springs of Arkansas.
Another expedition preliminarily named the "Great Excursion" was planned by Jefferson in order to continue the exploration of the Red River. Although Dunbar's failing health prevented him from participating in the expedition, he nevertheless was charged by Jefferson with the task of organizing it, together with Secretary of War Henry Dearborn. Dunbar used his experience from the first Red River expedition to plan this one; among his ideas was to use a boat suited for inland exploration in the trans-Mississippi region. This expedition was led by astronomer/surveyor Thomas Freeman and medical student Peter Custis, and it reached 615 miles (990 km) up the river before being halted by a Spanish military force.
Read more about this topic: William Dunbar (explorer)
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