Name/Title
Wild Grapes (Vitus vulpina)Entry/Object ID
2021.1.28 BScope and Content
Wild Grapes (Vitus vulpina) plant description, framed.
Several varieties of grapes grow along the Missouri River. Vitus vulpina, also known as frost grape, grows in moist woods and wooded bottomlands. The light green blossoms appear from May to July and the marble-size fruit, ripens from September to November. Wild grapes are an extremely valuable food for wildlife.
Lewis and Clark often noted in their journals the "Great quantities of grapes" along the river. When plant and animal specimens were sent back East in April 1805, Clark sent a letter which said, "I send my sister Croghan Some Seed of Several Kinds of Grapes."
Wild grapes were particularly important to the youngest man of the expedition, George Shannon. The journals record the story: August 26, 1804: "we Set out Leaveing Drewyer & Shannon to hunt the horses which was lost with directions to follow us Keeping on the high lands."
August 27, 1804: "G Drewyer Came up and informed that he Could neither find Shannon or the horses...we Sent Shields & J. Fields back to look for Shannon..."
Later Colter sent to look for Shannon and on September 3rd: "Saw Some Signs of the two men...Shannon appeared to be a head of Colter. Grapes plenty and finely flavered."
September 11, 1804: "here the Man who left us with the horses (16) days ago George Shannon... joined, us nearly Starved to Death, he had been 12 days without anything to eat but Grapes & one Rabit..."Context
Originally designed by the St. Joseph Museum in the fall of 2004. Titled "Botanical Wonders of the Uncharted West. The Recorded Flora of the Lewis & Clark Expedition."Collection
Lewis and ClarkLexicon
LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Botanical drawings, Expeditions & surveysArchive Items Details
Title
Wild Grapes (Vitus vulpina)Creator
Mary L. FletcherDate(s) of Creation
2004Subjects
Plants, Watercolor paintingsParts
Count
2Parts
Watercolor of plant and descriptive label, both framed.Condition
Overall Condition
Very GoodProvenance
Notes
"Botanical Wonders of the Uncharted West" visually depicts how well Lewis followed Jefferson's instructions. In recognition of this achievement, The S. Joseph Museums, Inc. commissioned accomplished artist Mary Fletcher to create fifty (50) selected paintings of flora documented by the Corps during their Journey. These framed watercolor originals are accompanied by similarly framed labels, generated by former Head of Research Jackie Lewin, which describe the corresponding plants with appropriate quotations from the Journals. This collection makes available for study and appreciation plants that were new to Lewis and Clark, but which Native Peoples already recognized as valuable sources of food, medicine, and tools. Some of these still remain a mystery to many, but all will enjoy their beauty, their diverse uses, and their accomplished renderings.