Meriwether Lewis dines with Armistead Mason and other young Philadelphian gentlemen and ladies. In Paris, Robert Livingston reflects of the significance of the recently signed Louisiana Treaty.
Armistead Mason (1787–1819)
Courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office, bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/M000213.
Armistead Mason would have been a teenager at the time he dined with Meriwether Lewis and Mahlon Dickerson. In the war of 1812, he was a colonel in the Virginia Volunteers, and in 1816 and 1817, filled a vacancy in the U.S. Senate.
Dinner with Dickerson
Thu. 12.
A delightful day—Merriweather Lewis Mr. Tull & Armistead Mason dined with me—spent the eveng. chez. Mr. Dallas avec Miss Patterson & Miss Nicholas—& als.
—Mahlon Dickerson[1]“The Mahlon Dickerson Diary,” in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 679 … Continue reading
The Treaty’s Significance
After a lengthy effort to make it look like he alone had nearly completed the Louisiana Purchase deal before James Monroe’s arrival, Robert Livingston provided this more accurate statement:
Paris 12th May 1803
Dear Sir
I believe that next to the negotiation that Secured our independance this is the most important the United States have ever entered into;
I have the honor to be Sir With the highest essteem & respect Your Most Obt hum: Servt
Robt R Livingston[2]Robert R. Livingston to James Madison, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-04-02-0703 accessed 2 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | “The Mahlon Dickerson Diary,” in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 679 and 680n. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Robert R. Livingston to James Madison, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-04-02-0703 accessed 2 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 4, 8 October 1802–15 May 1803, ed. Mary A. Hackett, J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, Susan Holbrook Perdue, and Ellen J. Barber. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 590–595.] |
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
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.
This site is provided as a public service by the
Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Montana Committee for the Humanities
- Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
- The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
- Yellowstone Public Radio
Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).