In a secret message to Congress dated January 18, 1803,
President Thomas Jefferson asked for $2,500 to explore lands west to the
Pacific. Jefferson worked closely with Lewis, co-commander of the expedition, to
ensure that he was well-prepared to anticipate the party's needs. While the
party ran out of such luxuries as whiskey, tobacco, and salt, they had plenty of
rifles, powder, paper, and ink. - Courtesy
of the US National Archives
List of Indian Presents Purchased by Meriwether Lewis in
Preparation for the Expedition to the West.Click
Here - Courtesy of the US National
Archives
Receipt for 130 Rolls of Pigtail Tobacco Purchased by
Meriwether Lewis for the Expedition to the West - Click
Here - Courtesy of the US National
Archives
Receipt for Wine and Kegs Purchased by Meriwether Lewis for
the Expedition to the West. -- Click
Here - Courtesy of the US National
Archives
President Thomas Jefferson's
message to Congress communicating the discoveries of the explorers Lewis and
Clark - Courtesy of the US National
Archives
LEWIS, Meriwether, explorer, born near
Charlottesville, Virginia, 18 August, 1774; died near Nashville, Tennessee, 11
October; 1809. He was a great-nephew of Fielding Lewis, noticed above, and
inherited a fortune frown his father, who died when the son was a child.
Meriwether, who was of a bold and adventurous disposition, left school at
eighteen years of age, and in 1794 volunteered in the troops that were called
out to quell the whiskey insurrection in western Pennsylvania. He entered the
regular service in 1795, became captain in 1800, and in 1801-'3 was private
secretary to President Jefferson, who in the latter year recommended him to
congress to command an exploring expedition across the continent to the
Pacific.
He set out in the summer of 1803, accompanied by his associate, Captain
William Clark, and a company that was composed of nine young men from Kentucky,
fourteen soldiers, two Canadian boatmen, an interpreter, a hunter, and a Negro
servant of Captain Clark. They began to ascend Missouri river in the spring of
1804, passed a second winter among the Mandans in latitude 47º 21' N., and on 7
April, 1805, continued to ascend the Missouri until the middle of July, when
they reached the great falls. Near the close of this month they attained the
confluence of three nearly equal streams, to which they gave the names of
Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin. They ascended the Jefferson to its source, traveled
through the mountains from August till 22 September, when they entered the
plains of the western slope, in October embarked in canoes on the Kooskoosky, a
branch of the Columbia, and on 15 November reached the mouth of that river,
after traveling more than 4,000 miles from the confluence of Mississippi and
Missouri rivers.
They passed the following winter on the south bank of the Columbia in an entrenched
camp, in March, 1806, began to ascend the Columbia on their homeward journey,
and in May left their boats and made a difficult journey on horseback across the
mountains to the Missouri, upon which they re-embarked in August, reaching St.
Louis in September, after an absence of two years and four months. Congress made
grants of land to the men of the expedition and to their chiefs, and Lewis was
made governor of Missouri territory.
He found the country torn by dissensions, and, although his impartiality and
firmness soon restored comparative order, he began to suffer from hypochondria,
to which he had been subject from his youth. During one of his attacks of
depression he was called to Washington, and
at a lodging-place in Tennessee he put an end to his life. Lewis and Clark,
a county of Montana, is named in honor of the explorers. President
Jefferson said of him: "He was courage undaunted, possessing a
firmness of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its
direction, and was intimate with Indian character, customs, and
principles." A narrative of the expedition of Lewis and Clark, from
materials that were furnished by the explorers, was prepared by Nicholas Biddle
and Paul Allen, with a memoir of Lewis by Thomas Jefferson (2 vols.,
Philadelphia, 1814; new ed., with additions by Alexander McVickar, New York,
1843).
Research Links
Virtualology is
not affiliated with the authors of these links nor responsible for each
Link's content.
Wild West Legends - Factual,
historical information on outlaws, lawmen, gunfighters, showmen,
women, and Native Americans from the Old West.
Meriwether
Lewis - American Explorer
Categorical Index | Café | Library | Gallery | Café Music | Lucidcafé Home |
Revised: January 14, 1999. Meriwether Lewis American Explorer. 1774 - 1809. ...
PBS - THE
WEST - Meriwether Lewis
... Meriwether Lewis. (1774-1809). The official leader of the
epic Lewis and Clark Expedition, Meriwether ...
Merriwether Lewis
... between them. He also served as Governor of the Louisiana Territory. In
1801, Lewis
became private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson. Both of them were ...
MLEC
This page uses frames, but your browser does not support them.
Description: Elecricity supplier serving
Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Lewis and Perry counties in Tennessee. Also...
Main
Page
Meriwether Lewis. A portrait of an American Explorer
and Hero. 1744-1809, In 1804 Meriwether Lewis ...
Grave of Meriwether
Lewis
... Meriwether Lewis. b. August 18, 1774. d. October 11, 1809. Explorer. he
commanded
the first exploration by white people of the Missouri and Columbia rivers. He
...
Salon
Ivory Tower | Who killed Meriwether Lewis?
... BROWSE THE IVORY TOWER ARCHIVE. Who killed Meriwether Lewis ? A FORENSIC
SCIENTIST
NAMED JAMES STARRS THINKS THE FAMOUS EXPLORER MAY HAVE BEEN MURDERED -- AND ...
Meriwether Lewis
History
Meriwether Lewis, Murder or Suicide There is a two
hundred year mystery in Lewis County that ...
Who2 Profile:
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis Explorer, Who2? PBS: Lewis & Clark Online home of the Ken
Burns
film, Who Killed Meriwether Lewis? 1999 Salon article recaps the controversy.
...
Meriwether Lewis Park
MERIWETHER LEWIS PARK Near Gordonsburg, Tennessee. The tragic death of famed
explorer
Meriwether Lewis has left a ghostly impression on this remote park. ...
Meriwether Lewis - Lewis
County - Hohenwald Tennessee
... Meriwether Lewis - Lewis County - Hohenwald Tennessee. ... Books about
Meriwether Lewis.
Books about the Natchez Trace. Books about Western Trails - Natchez Trace. ...
Lewis
Meriwether, Lewis Clark Expedition
... linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_names/meriwether_lewis/meriwether_lewis.html
Lewis Meriwether, Lewis Clark Expedition ...
lewis-clark.org::Meriwether
Lewis, Bio
link to Fritz main menu link to main map Meriwether Lewis. orn on August 18,
1774,
Meriwether Lewis literally grew up with the new republic. He was exactly ...
Unauthorized Site:
This site and its contents are not affiliated, connected,
associated with or authorized by the individual, family,
friends, or trademarked entities utilizing any part or
the subject's entire name. Any official or affiliated
sites that are related to this subject will be hyper
linked below upon submission
and Evisum, Inc. review.
Please join us in our mission to incorporate The Congressional Evolution of the United States of America discovery-based curriculum into the classroom of every primary and secondary school in the United States of America by July 2, 2026, the nation’s 250th birthday. , the United States of America: We The
People. Click Here