Seaman

=__Seaman__  =  toc

 Seaman, Meriweather Lewis' dog, was the only animal to complete the entire trip. He was a Black Newfoundland. He was lost/stolen at one point during the long trip but was returned later. Seaman was mentioned only occasionally in the journals. We have to imagine him riding in the boats or following every footstep that these men took. Even though the men who kept journals did not tell about his daily activities, we can infer what he did.  


 Many people wonder why Lewis chose the Newfoundland breed. It is not like he did not have any other options, there were many to choose from. Back then there were Bull dogs, Boxers, King Charles, and Great Danes, to name a few. Actually, no one really knows why he choose the Newfoundland breed, so we have to guess. He may have chosen that breed because of the swimming abilities or the great hunting skills. We know for sure that the members of the expedition had to provide there own food, so of coarse, the dog would have to do the same. These are only a few reasons why we think that this breed was chosen.

His Many Talents
=== <span style="color: rgb(133, 14, 241);">Watchdog === <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(148, 19, 246);"><span style="color: rgb(135, 18, 248);"> Seaman served as a watchdog. On June 19, 1805, Capt. Lewis wrote that: "After dark, my dog barked very much and seemed extremely uneasy which is unusual for him. I ordered the Sergt. to check it out, thinking that some Indian friends had come to visit us or that a Grizzle bear was upon us. He returned soon after and reported that he believed the dog had been baying at a buffalo bull which had attempted to swim the river just above our camp, but had been beaten down by the stream." Also he added about an encounter with a bear. The bear ate about thirty pounds of buffalo suet that was hanging on a pole. The rest of the w <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(148, 19, 246);"> <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(148, 19, 246);">eek Seaman was on guard and at every noise he would jolt from his sleep, and see if his masters were in danger.

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**<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(115, 12, 228);">Hunter **
<span style="color: rgb(100, 5, 214); font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Seaman was also quite a hunter. On July 15, 1805 Capt. Lewis wrote about how Seaman killed a deer. He said that he wounded a deer that was running in a river. The dog pursued, caught it, drowned it and brought it to the camp. The on July 17, Seaman caught some geese. Sadly, later that year Seaman was badly hurt by a beaver. He almost bled to death and Lewis later wrote that he was very scared that he would lose a good friend. Happily, Seaman pulled through and started hunting once again. **Swimmer** <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(130, 9, 246);">Also, Seaman was a great swimmer. As it was mentioned before, Seaman jumped into the Missouri River (which is very rapid) and caught and killed a deer. This showed how good a swimmer he was. Also, at Lewis' command, Seaman could jump into the Ohio river and catch squirrels, which were swimming across in great numbers. Earlier in the expedition, Seaman was the hero when a grizzle bear approached the camp, coming through the river. Seaman chased him off through the river and came back without a scratch.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(130, 9, 246);">**Where Did Seaman Go?**
<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(154, 35, 246);">Many experts do not know where Seaman ended up.Some do not know if he died soon after the trip down the Missouri River to St. Louis, or if he even made it through that trip. Some say that he went to find food and that he never came back. But, the truth is, no one knows what happened to him. Will it always be a mystery? Probably, only because it is a waste of time to try to figure out what happened to a dog when there are other things that are more important.



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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(172, 52, 244);"><span style="color: rgb(125, 17, 238);"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(165, 48, 243);"> Garraty, John A. The Story Of America. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1994 <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(145, 30, 241);"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; color: rgb(172, 52, 244);">Seaman (Dog), "Famous Dogs,Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia", Published on October 8, 2007, Accessed on November 1, 2008, [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaman_(Newfoundland_dog])

Seaman by Irviring Anderson, "Inside The Corps", Accessed on October 29, 2008, http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/index.html

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