![Carte Lewis and Clark Expedition](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Carte_Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition.png)
Private John Shields (c1769–1809) was, at about 35 years old, the second oldest member of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...
and its oldest enlisted member. Shields, born in Virginia's
Shenandoah Valley, moved at about 14 years old to the wilderness of Tennessee, helped build and lived in a family fort that provided protection from Native Americans, traveled with Captain
Meriwether Lewis, Second Lieutenant
William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...
, and Native American
Sacagawea to the Oregon Coast where he helped build
Fort Clatsop
Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805–1806. Located along the Lewis and Clark River at the north end of the Clatsop Plains approxi ...
, and then returned to
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. At the completion of this great adventure Shields hunted and trapped with the famous American pioneer
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
.
Early life
Shields was born about 1769 Virginia's
Shenandoah Valley. He was born in what was then
Augusta County
Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its count ...
, but is now
Rockingham County, Virginia
Rockingham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,757. Its county seat is the independent city of Harrisonburg.
Along with Harrisonburg, Rockingham County forms the Harrisonbur ...
. He was one of twelve children of Robert Shields and Nancy Stockton. Robert and Nancy Stockton Shields are known as the "Parents of the Ten Brothers." Richard, David and William were all elder siblings, followed by John himself, James, Joseph, Arnett, Ezekial (who did not survive his first year), Benjamin, Joshua and Robert. Jennet, the only daughter, married Joshua Tipton. Their son,
John Tipton
John Tipton (August 14, 1786 – April 5, 1839) was from Tennessee and became a farmer in Indiana; an officer in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, and veteran officer of the War of 1812, in which he reached the rank of Brigadier General; and po ...
, became a brigadier general and later a
US Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
for the state of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. In about 1784 the Shields family moved from Virginia to what is now
Sevier County, Tennessee
Sevier County ( ) is a county of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 98,380. Its county seat and largest city is Sevierville. Sevier County comprises the Sevierville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...
, and settled on the south side of the
French Broad River
The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville form ...
. John and his brothers helped his parents to build Shields Fort, which is located where modern-day
Pigeon Forge
Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Pa ...
is, near where the
Dollywood
Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly ...
theme park currently stands. Some of the cabins found in
Cades Cove
Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park. Today Cades Cove, the single most popular destinati ...
near Pigeon Forge were also built by the Shields family.
Family
In about 1790 John Shields married Nancy White. Their daughter, Martha Jennette, married her 1st cousin
John Tipton
John Tipton (August 14, 1786 – April 5, 1839) was from Tennessee and became a farmer in Indiana; an officer in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, and veteran officer of the War of 1812, in which he reached the rank of Brigadier General; and po ...
. He became a brigadier general and a
US Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
for the state of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. The Shields family and the Tipton family were neighbors in the 1790s when they lived in what is now Sevier County, Tennessee. John Tipton was a son of Joshua and Jennet Shields Tipton.
Lewis & Clark Expedition
![Missouririverecoregions](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Missouririverecoregions.jpg)
Shields was a private for the
Lewis & Clark Expedition from October 19, 1803, until October 10, 1806. Despite the captains' rule that they would only consider unmarried men for the exploring enterprise, they recruited Shields. He acted as a gunsmith, blacksmith, hunter, and scout for the duration of the expedition.
[Elin Woodger, Brandon Toropov (2004). "]
Encyclopedia of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
'". Infobase Publishing.
In December 1803 the members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition started construction of
Camp Dubois, also known as Camp Wood, their winter camp of 1803–1804. Located next to the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
, and at the mouth of
Wood River, the camp was in what was then St. Clair County, now Madison County, Illinois. They stayed at Camp Dubois until May 14, 1804, when they crossed the Mississippi River and started up the
Missouri River (at 2,341 miles long it is the longest river in North America). On March 29, 1804, while still at Camp Dubois, Private
John Colter
John Colter (c.1770–1775 – May 7, 1812 or November 22, 1813) was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). Though party to one of the more famous expeditions in history, Colter is best remembered for explorations he made ...
and Shields (second cousins) threatened Sergeant
John Ordway
Sergeant John Ordway (c. 1775 – c. 1817), the youngest of ten siblings, was an important part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition across the United States. John Ordway was one of the sergeants from the United States Army who stepped forward t ...
's life. They were put on trial for mutiny, but they were both spared. (''See
John Ordway
Sergeant John Ordway (c. 1775 – c. 1817), the youngest of ten siblings, was an important part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition across the United States. John Ordway was one of the sergeants from the United States Army who stepped forward t ...
for more information.'')
Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Journal of Captain
Meriwether Lewis:
* "6th February Wednesday 1805 . . . Shields killed three antelopes this evening. the blacksmiths
ohn Shields, William Bratton, and Alexander Willardtake a considerable quantity of corn today in payment for their labour. the blacksmith's have proved a happy resoce to us in our present situation as I believe it would have been difficult to have devised any other method to have procured corn from the natives. the Indians are extravegantly fond of sheet iron of which they form arrow-points and manufacter into instruments for scraping and dressing their buffaloe robes - I permited the blacksmith to dispose of a part of a sheet-iron callaboos
tovewhich had been nearly birnt out on our passage up the river, and for each piece about four inches square he obtained from seven to eight gallons of corn from the natives who appeared extremely pleased with the exchange"
Journal of Second Lieutenant
William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...
:
* "Friday June 13th 1806 . . . Soon after they Set out all of our hunters returned each with a deer except Shields who brought two"
* "Wednesday July 2nd 1806 . . . had all of our arms put in the most prime order two of the rifles have unfortunately burst near the muscle, Shields Cut them off and they Shute tolerable well"
Journal of Sergeant
John Ordway
Sergeant John Ordway (c. 1775 – c. 1817), the youngest of ten siblings, was an important part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition across the United States. John Ordway was one of the sergeants from the United States Army who stepped forward t ...
:
* "Wednesday 1st August 1804 . . . Shields went out a short time and killed & brought in a Deer."
* "Friday 14th Sept. 1804 . . . John Shields who went on Shore with the horse killed a verry large white rabbit or haire it was as big as a Ureopian hare. - nearly all white - & of a different description of any one ever yet Seen in the States." The first description of the white-tailed jackrabbit, ''Lepus townsendii'' previously unknown to science. John Shields discovered what was later named a Jack rabbit.
* "Monday 4th Feby. 1805 . . . Shields went out a Short time in this bottom and killed two Deer."
* "Wednesday 6th Feby. 1805 . . . Shields went out towards evening to hunt & killed 3 Goats which we brought in and eat the meat."
Post-expedition
![Boone by Chappel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Boone_by_Chappel.jpg)
In 1799 the famous American pioneer
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
(1734–1820) moved to what is now
St. Charles County
St. Charles County is in the central eastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 405,262, making it Missouri's third-most populous county. Its county seat is St. Charles. The county was organized Oct ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, where he lived about 50 miles up the
Missouri River from St. Louis, Missouri, where the expedition started and finished. "In 1804 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark visited Boone before embarking on their expedition, gathering valuable information about the lands to the west, which Boone had not been able to resist exploring." The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed near Boone's residence on the way up the Missouri River in 1804 and again on the way down the river in 1806. When Shields returned from the expedition to the
Oregon Coast
The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...
he hunted and trapped in Missouri with Daniel Boone. Shields later moved to Harrison County, Indiana, where he hunted and trapped with
Squire Boone
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...
, a brother of Daniel Boone. Some historians show that John Shields was a "kinsman" of Daniel Boone, but there does not appear to be any evidence they were related.
On January 15, 1807, Captain Meriwether Lewis wrote to the US Secretary of War
Henry Dearborn
Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an American military officer and politician. In the Revolutionary War, he served under Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec, of which his journal provides an important record ...
: "John Sheilds
'sic''has received the pay only of a private. Nothing was more peculiarly useful to us in various situations than the skill and ingenuity of this man as an artist, in repairing our guns, accoutrements, &c. and should it be thought proper to allow him something as an artificer, he has well deserved it."
Shields settled in Indiana by June 1807 and was appointed captain of the
Clark County militia in July 1807. In December 1809, Shields died in Harrison County and is buried at the Little Flock Baptist Cemetery, in Crandall, Harrison County, Indiana.
The
Shields River
The Shields River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, long, in Meagher and Park Counties Montana in the United States.
It rises in the Gallatin National Forest in the Crazy Mountains in northern Park County. It flows west, then south, be ...
, a tributary of the
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountains a ...
, just east of
Livingston, Montana
Livingston is a city and county seat of Park County, Montana, United States. It is in southwestern Montana, on the Yellowstone River, north of Yellowstone National Park. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,040.
History
T ...
, was named in his honor.
A
state historical marker to his memory is erected near the Harrison County Courthouse in Corydon, Indiana.
Shields' historical marker shows that he was a gunsmith and blacksmith in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and that after his return he moved to Clark County, Indiana, and that in 1809 he died in Harrison County, Indiana.
Gravesite and headstone
There is a headstone for Private John Shields (1769–1809) in the Little Flock Baptist Cemetery, Elizabeth, Harrison County, Indiana. The inscription shows that Shields was a private in the U.S. Army and a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It also shows that besides his duties as a gunsmith, blacksmith, and hunter, he was also a scout and mechanic.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, John
Lewis and Clark Expedition people
American explorers
1769 births
1809 deaths