The citizens of Charlottesville, Virginia and Meriwether Lewis exchange short speeches. Dinner and festivities continue at the Stone Tavern. On or near this day, William Clark leaves his home in Louisville, Kentucky for Washington City.[1]William Clark to William Croghan, 14 December 1806 cited in James J. Holmberg, ed., Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 122n1.
A Stone Tavern c. 1810
Derived from an original photo of a stone tavern on the Wilderness Road in Smyth County, Virginia.[2]For the original, see “Old Stone Tavern: Smyth County”, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/086-0002/ accessed 8 January 2026.
From the Citizens of Charlottesville
Impressed with the liveliest sentiments of affection and friendship towards you, the citizens of Charlottesville and its vicinity, your old friends and neighbours, hail with eager gratulation your safe return; escaped from the dangers of the savage wilderness, they welcome you to civilized life, to the affections of your friends, to the gratitude of your country.
To the Citizens of Charlottesville
To which Captain Lewis returned the following answer.
. . . . .
To have conceived is but little; the merit of having added to the world of science, and of liberty, a large portion of the immense unknown wilds of North America, is equally due to my dear and interesting friend capt. Clark, and to those who ere the joint companions of our labours and difficulties in performing that task.
Dinner and Festivities
The company then sat down to an excellent dinner: many appropriate toasts were given, the social song went round; and they passed the evening in that spirit of festivity and mirth, which the joyful occasion, and the presence of their friend, safely returned from his perilous expedition, and in the bloom of health, inspired.[3]Richmond Enquirer, 23 December 1806, page 3. Also in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783–1854, ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | William Clark to William Croghan, 14 December 1806 cited in James J. Holmberg, ed., Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 122n1. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | For the original, see “Old Stone Tavern: Smyth County”, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/086-0002/ accessed 8 January 2026. |
| ↑3 | Richmond Enquirer, 23 December 1806, page 3. Also in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783–1854, ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 2:693. |
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Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
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