From the Falls of the Ohio, William Clark pens a letter accepting Meriwether Lewis’s invitation to join the “enterprise” to explore the Missouri River to its source and from there to the Pacific Ocean. In Philadelphia, one of Lewis’s mentors, Caspar Wistar, seeks information about the Missouri River.
Explorers at the Portage
by Robert M. “Bob” Scrivner
Inscription on pedestal: “In appreciation to Ed and Shirley Mitch for their generous contribution to this project.” Photo © 2015 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Above: Lewis holds an espontoon, both carry rifles, and Lewis’s dog Seaman looks on.
Clark Accepts
Clarksville July 18th 1803
Dear Lewis
. . . . .
I will cheerfully join you in an “official Charrector”[1]Earlier drafts read “I will cheerfully join in an ‘official Charrector’ on equal footing &c.” (emphasis added). See Clark’s Military Rank. as mentioned in your letter, and partake in the dangers, difficulties, and fatigues, and I anticipate the honors & rewards of the result of such an enterprise, should be successful in accomplishing it
This is an undertaking fraited with many difeculties, but My friend I do assure you that no lives with whome I would perfur to undertake Such a Trip &c. as your self, and I shall arrange my matters as well as I can against your arrival here.
With every sincerity & friendship Yr. Obt. Sevt.
WM. CLARK[2]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), 110–11.
What Direction the Missouri?
Philada. July 18, 1803.
Dear Sir
I beg leave to trouble you with the inclosed for Captain Lewis, they do not include many points, because his instructions have really anticipated every thing which occurred to me, & of course admitted of no additions but in detail.
. . . . .
What is the real direction of the Missouri? ’till the publication of McKenzie’s book I believed it to be nearly west, & if I am not mistaken M. Pirroux spoke of it in the same way for 2000 miles of its extent—but McKenzies account is Confirmed by the Gentleman who gave the account of the Wild Sheep, in his narrative he mentions the Missouri as existing no great distance from the Saskatchevine river. I shall write this day to Mr Peter Pond (who is mentioned by McKenzie) on the subject, he lives in Connecticut & I believe will give any information in his power without any particular explanation respecting the reason for asking it.[3]With this phrase, Wistar refers to Jefferson’s request to publicly state that the Western Expedition would go up the Mississippi, not the Missouri. See Jefferson’s Secrecy
With the greatest respect I am your affectionate friend
C. Wistar Junr.[4]Caspar Wistar to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-41-02-0061 accessed 12 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | Earlier drafts read “I will cheerfully join in an ‘official Charrector’ on equal footing &c.” (emphasis added). See Clark’s Military Rank. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | 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), 110–11. |
| ↑3 | With this phrase, Wistar refers to Jefferson’s request to publicly state that the Western Expedition would go up the Mississippi, not the Missouri. See Jefferson’s Secrecy |
| ↑4 | Caspar Wistar to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-41-02-0061 accessed 12 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 41, 11 July–15 November 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014, pp. 91–92.] The same letter is dated by Donald Jackson in Letters as 13 July 1803. |
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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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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).