Private John Collins

From Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail:

We return to our Men of the Corps series today featuring the only member to hold the dubious honor of being court martialed two times during the Expedition – Private John Collins. 

Collins got off to a rough start. He was labeled as a “blackguard” on a list of the men at Camp Dubois in the winter of 1803-04 – probably because he often visited a nearby grog shop and returned to camp drunk. He also “found” a butchered hog in the neighboring woods and brought it back to camp, claiming it was bear meat. The owner, a French farmer, visited Captain Clark and claimed the hog.

When the Corps stopped for a few days in St. Charles, his first official crime occurred -- being AWOL, disorderly conduct and disrespecting an officer. He was found guilty and punished with 50 lashes on the bare back. About 40 days later, in late June, he was found guilty of getting drunk on his post. This time he received 100 lashes to the back. After that it seems Collins finally learned his lessons and settled down. By the third month, he was appointed cook for Sgt. Pryor’s mess, and he soon became a valuable hunter for the Expedition.

A Maryland resident, Collins was serving at Fort Kaskaskia when he volunteered for Expedition duty. Following his return to St. Louis in 1806, he sold his land warrant to George Drouillard and is then believed to have partnered with fellow Corpsman Pierre Cruzatte to return up the Missouri, becoming a part of John McClellan’s trapping expedition. In 1807, the party set up a post west of the Rocky Mountains – and of the original 42 men, only 12 survived over the next three years. At some point, he returned to St. Louis and in 1823 joined William Henry Ashley’s party to once again travel up the Missouri. They were confronted by Arikaras bent on revenge after a different group of white traders killed a chief’s son; Collins was among several men killed in that attack.

Captain Clark named a creek in the Bitterroot Mountains after Collins, which was renamed Lolo Creek in the 1860s.

This waymarker stands in Zittlestown, Maryland to commemorate Collins as the first Marylander to cross the North American continent. 




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