.
On the way out, the expedition stopped at a village and celebrated with whiskey and some individuals celebrated their last fling too much for their own good and Clark realized that discipline was still a problem. John Collins, a constant troublemaker, was court-martialed under the Articles of War and received 50 lashes for being absent without leave, misbehaving at a ball, and using disrespectful language towards Clark. Two others were found guilty of being absent without leave, but Clark reduced theirs to only 25 lashes. .
During the summer of 1804 there were still problems with discipline and Collins and Hall were the culprits this time. While supposedly guarding the whiskey barrel, Collins became intoxicated and allowed Hall to take a supply. A court-martial decreed 100 lashes for Collins and 50 for Hall. Then a month later Willard received 100 lashes for sleeping on guard duty. .
During August of this same summer, Private Reed asked permission to return to a previous camp because he had left his knife. This was probably a lie, because it was soon apparent that he had deserted-a cardinal offense. Still missing was La Liberte who had never come back from a mission he had been sent on. A group of men were sent out to apprehend the offenders and told that they could kill Reed if he did not return peaceably. A week and a half later the search party returned with Reed and some Indian chiefs. La Liberte was captured but escaped on the way back to camp. Reed was court martialed on the spot. He received a harsh punishment. The chiefs who returned with the group told Lewis and Clark that they were being too harsh and that they should let him go without such a harsh punishment. The pleas did not work and Reed was forced to run the gauntlet four times between the assembled men while they flogged his bare back-a custom that the Indians found strange and offensive. He was also discharged from the expedition.
