George Shannon

George Shannon (c. 1785–August 30, 1836), was an American explorer, lawyer, and politician. He was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (not counting the infant Jean Baptiste Charbonneau), joining at the age of 17, was born in Pennsylvania of Irish ancestry. He joined the Corps of Discovery in August 1803, as one of the three men (and Seaman) from Pittsburgh He had seven children with Ruth Snowden Price, one of them including Texas Senate member George Ross Shannon.

Lewis and Clark Expedition On August 26, 1804, he was sent to retrieve two pack horses; he was separated from the party for sixteen days and nearly starved, as he went without food for twelve days except for some grapes and rabbits. At first, he thought he was behind the expedition, so he sped up thinking he could catch up. Then, getting hungry, he went downstream to look for a trading party he could stay with.

Shannon got lost again August 6, 1805, when the expedition was at the Three Forks. He was dispatched up a fork the party had named Wisdom (the middle fork was named Jefferson and the placid fork, Philanthropy). He rejoined the party after three days by backtracking to the forks and following the trail of the others.

In 2001, a number of northeastern Nebraska communities formed Shannon Trail Promoters, with the goal of increasing tourism in the forthcoming bicentennial year of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The organization commissioned thirteen wooden chainsaw sculptures of Shannon, which were placed in participating communities along a Shannon Trail. Sixteen wayside markers recounting aspects of Shannon's career were also placed along the trail, which runs through the region in which Shannon is thought to have wandered during his 1804 separation from the expedition. In keeping with Shannon's claim to fame, a scavenger hunt was held, with tourists urged to "Find Private Shannon" by visiting all sixteen markers. The organization continues to stage Shannon-themed events.