At Louisville, Clark writes a letter informing Lewis that he has found some eligible recruits, and that he is getting his affairs ready for departure down the Ohio River.[1]Overseeing the construction of the military barge in Pittsburgh, Lewis would receive this letter five days later. He also writes President Jefferson informing him of his willingness to join Lewis in this “Vast enterprise”.
John Shields, chief blacksmith and gunsmith, was one of young men recruited by William Clark. They were often called the “Nine Young Men from Kentucky” but that dated moniker omits York, Clark’s slave who was also from Kentucky.
Eligible Recruits
Louisville 24th July 1803
Dear Lewis
. . . . .
I am arranging my matters so as to detain but a short time after arrival here, well convinced of the necessity of getting as far as possible up the —————[2]With this blank, Clark defers to Jefferson’s request to publicly state that the Western Expedition would go up the Mississippi, not the Missouri. See Jefferson’s Secrecy
I have temperally engaged some men for the enterprise of a discription calculated to work & go thro’ those labours & fatigues which will be necessary. Several men (Gentlemens sons) have applyed to accompany us—as they are not accustomed to labour and as that is a verry assential part of the services required of the party . . . .
Pray let me here from you as often as possible. Yr.
W. C.[3]Clark to Lewis in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 112–13.
This Vast Enterprise
Clarksville 24th July 1803
Sir [Thomas Jefferson]
I had the honor of receiving thro’ Captain M. Lewis an assureance of your Approbation & wish that I would join him in a North Western enterprise. I will chearfully, and with great pleasure, join my friend Capt. Lewis in this Vast enterprise, and shall arrange my business so as to be in readiness to leave this soon after his arrival. . . .
Wm. Clark[4]William Clark to Thomas Jefferson in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783–1854, ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 1:113.
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Notes
| ↑1 | Overseeing the construction of the military barge in Pittsburgh, Lewis would receive this letter five days later. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | With this blank, Clark defers to Jefferson’s request to publicly state that the Western Expedition would go up the Mississippi, not the Missouri. See Jefferson’s Secrecy |
| ↑3 | Clark to Lewis in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 112–13. |
| ↑4 | William Clark to Thomas Jefferson in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783–1854, ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 1:113. |
