ongratulations! You have participated in an exceptional act of democracy. Now look below to find out how the members of the Corps voted on November 24th, 1805.

These are the results, as recorded in Clark's journal at "Station Camp" on the North shore of the Columbia. Refer to the Interpretation of Clark's Notations for help deciphering his tally.

This page shows a list of members of the Corps, along with two votes for each name. It appears that the Corps voted first on whether to cross the Columbia and examine the South shore or to proceed immediately to a predetermined location. Everyone except Jo Fields voted in favor of examining the other side.

The second vote was more specific. The choices appear to have been to go south, to return upriver all the way to Celilo Falls or just to Sandy River. It is unclear whether the "S" stands for "South" or "Sandy River," but judging by Clark's final tally, we can guess that it meant "Sandy River," though by this conclusion his counting is still a bit off! Thus, it looks as though everyone voted to go back upriver after examining the South shore, though they wanted to go up to different locations.

We do not know how the decision was made to stay on the South shore, once this inspection was concluded.

Why didn't anyone vote to stay on the North Shore? Was your vote a popular one? Which factors do you think each individual considered to be most important; were they the same factors that influenced you? Can you think of any other reasons that they may have had for making the decisions that they did?

For more information about the vote, see In Their Words: The Vote.