Dog playing part of explorers' pet dies

WAVERLY, Mo. -- Seaman, the dog playing the part of the Lewis and Clark expedition's canine companion, has died during a 2-year recreation of the trip.

The veterinary clinic at the University of Missouri-Columbia was conducting an autopsy to find out what killed the 20-month-old Newfoundland, who weighed about 140 pounds.

Scott Mandrell, a schoolteacher portraying Meriwether Lewis, said his dog was dead when he woke up Wednesday at the crew's campsite in Waverly.

Seaman set out with the crew late last month on the latest segment of the trip -- a stretch from St. Charles to Fort Mandan, N.D. The Newfoundland also joined the crew during the initial portion of the re-enactment, from Aug. 31 to Dec. 12 last year.

"He was truly America's dog," Mandrell said. "He had made his way 1,500 miles on America's river system. ... He was a member of the Corps of Discovery."

The original explorers' journals tell of buying dogs from tribes -- not for pets but for food. But Seaman was so loved that even when the explorers were eating tallow candles, the dog avoided the stew pot.