August 8, 1804
The Lewis and Clark expedition had been underway for about four months and had seen very few waterfowl of any kind. Imagine their surprise when they saw a raft of white feathers some sixty yards wide and three miles long floating down the Missouri River. They eventually arrived at the source, a large island that contained, among other things, about three acres of pelicans, in numbers too huge to even estimate. Clark fired at random into the crowd and hit one. When the two men measured the pouch, they discovered that it could hold five gallons of water. Of course they named the place, Pelican Island.