Inside an officer’s quarters at Kaskaskia, Illinois, soldiers of Russell Bissell’s Company of the 1st U.S. Infantry and Amos Stoddard’s Company of the Artillery declare their interest in volunteering for the Corps of Discovery. A local Creole dressed in a white and red capote watches with interest from the far left. At the standing desk aretwo lieutenants, one taking down the name of an infantry private, while the other is keeping a skeptical eye on a group of artillerymen. All wear their full dress uniform coats of blue and red. In the center, Pvt. Patrick Gass speaks intently with Meriwether Lewis. Gass is dressed in his fatigue jacket and trousers, and holds his blue and red fatigue cap behind his back. A skilled carpenter, Gass was deemed too valuable to join the expedition by Russell Bissell until he made this special appeal to Lewis, who intervened. On the far right a group of three artillery privates in their full dress uniform coats (accented with yellow tape) chat about the possibilities of the adventure ahead.
