Who is Sergeant Nathaniel Pryor from The Journals of Lewis and Clark and what is their importance?

Sergeant Nathaniel Pryor was recruited by Clark to take part in the expedition. He was cousin to Sergeant Charles Floyd, who was the only member of the party to die during the expedition. In late August, Pryor went to a Sioux camp with Pierre Dorion to invite the Chiefs to a council. The next day, Clark recorded that Pryor found the Sioux camp in good order with a population of around 500 persons. In June of 1905, Clarks referred to Pryor as a "steady valuable and useful member of our party."

Pryor was part of the party that accompanied Captain Clark and his servant from camp on the shore of the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. He was a very reliable military administrator. In June of 1804, he was assigned to preside over the Court Marshall that condemned John Collins and Hugh Hall for being drunk while on duty. In September, Pryor saved the party from major trouble, when he ordered the men to get away safely, as the sand bar on which they were camped began to crumble into the river and threaten the vessels below.

In July of 1806, Pryor was in charge of a small party that was ordered to take the horses over land to Mandan. The horses, however, in their entirety, were stolen by Indians, most of them during the night of the 22nd. This leaves Pryor's party with no way to get back to the camp quickly.

After the expedition, Pryor became a trader, and he lived among the Osage Indians. He resided with the Clermont band, and he eventually married one of their women. Pryor died on June 10, 1811.