With departure from Washington City imminent, Meriwether Lewis writes to his mother Lucy Lewis Marks. The War Department requests boats and soldiers from the U.S. Army.
Lucy Marks was the mother of Meriwether Lewis. According to the artist’s biography at the National Gallery of Art, John Toole was a distant relative of Thomas Jefferson.
Lewis Writes his Mother
Washington July 2nd 1803.
Dear Mother,
The day after tomorrow I shall set out for the Western Country . . . ; my absence will probably be equal to fifteen or eighteen months . . . . I go with the most perfect preconviction in my own mind of returning safe and hope therefore that you will not suffer yourself to indulge any anxiety for my safety.
I shall write you again on my arrival at Pittsburgh. Adieu and belive me your affectionate Son,
Meriwether Lewis[1]Lewis to Lucy Marks in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 100.
Provisioning Boats
War Department July 2d 1803.
Sir [Moses Hooke]
You will give Capt. Lewis every aid in your power in the imbarkation of his Stores, &c. and for descening the River, and you will see that the Contractors Agent has proper provisions put on board his Boat to carry him & his men to Massac . . . .[2]Henry Dearborn to Moses Hooke, Jackson, 101.
Personnel Matters
War Department July 2d 1803
Sir [Meriwether Lewis],
You will call on the Commanding Officers at Massac and Kaskaskais for such Non-commissioned Officers & privates as will be necessary to accompany you on your tour to the Westward . . . . You will in the mean time recruit such suitable Men as may be inclined to accompany you . . . . The whole number of non-commissioned officers and privates should not exceed twelve men.
You will be furnished with a blank commission for a Lieutenant or Ensign, to be filled by you to your direction—and you are authorized to engage an Interpreter to accompany You . . . .[3]Henry Dearborn to Lewis in Jackson, 102–3.
Eight Good Men
War Department July 2d 1803
Gentlemen.
You will be pleased to furnish one Sergeant & Eight good Men who understand rowing a boat to go with Capt. Lewis as far up the River as they can go & return with certainty before the Ice will obstruct the passage of the river. They should be furnished with the best boat at the Post & take in provisions for Capt. Lewis’s party & themselves . . . . It would be desirable that the party should go voluntarily . . . .[4]Henry Dearborn to Russell Bissell and Amos Stoddard, Jackson, 103–4.
Notes
| ↑1 | Lewis to Lucy Marks in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 100. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Henry Dearborn to Moses Hooke, Jackson, 101. |
| ↑3 | Henry Dearborn to Lewis in Jackson, 102–3. |
| ↑4 | Henry Dearborn to Russell Bissell and Amos Stoddard, Jackson, 103–4. |
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- 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).