Patrick Gass’ journal, published after the expedition, and the accompanying drawings attributed to him, give historians one of the best views into the day to day activities of the men. A private of 1st. U.S. Infantry before the expedition, he was a stationed at Ft. Kaskaskia in Illinois. His commanding officer, considering him one of his most valuable men, was reluctant to allow him to leave. The men of the Lewis and Clark expediton also valued him highly as they elected him Sergeant upon the death of Sgt. Charles Floyd. Gass was the last surviving member of the expedition, living long enough to be photographed before dying at the age of ninety nine. Though his talents were considerable, Clark wrote that the barrel chested carpenter’s manner and quick temper 'was better suited for the camp than the parlor'. In this vignette Sergeant Patrick Gass uses an adze to square a log for building Fort Mandan. Gass was an example of a soldier with extra talents, which included great skill at carpentry. Most likely, Gass directed the construction of the Corps of Discovery’s three winter encampments. Here he wears an old round hat with cockade, woolen vest, linen shirt with sleeves rolled up and 'coarse linen' fatigue trousers. This scene was created to echo a woodcut figure in the 1811 Patrick Gass Journal titled 'Captain Clark and His Men Building a Line of Huts.'
