In Louisville, two new recruits, Nathaniel Pryor and William Bratton, officially enlist, and the shipyard at Bear Grass Creek is described by fellow traveler Thomas Rodney.
At the nation’s capital, the Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase treaty.
Louisville Shipyard
Bear Grass Creek, Louisville, Kentucky
© 2021 by Robert Heacock. Used by Permission.
The Louisville shipyard described by Thomas Rodney in the fall of 1803 was near the mouth of Bear Grass Creek.
There is a large creek on the Kentucky shore just above the falls, the mouth of it opposite the middle of the town of Louis Ville, with ship yard near the mouth where there is a large ship now on the stocks.
—Thomas Rodney[1]16 October 1803. Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick, ed., A Journey Through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997), … Continue reading
Ohio River Recruits
In a summary of extra pay awarded the men, Clark recorded the enlistments of Sergeant Pryor and Private Bratton as starting on 20 October 1803:
We the Subscribers do acknowledge to have received of [blank] the several Sums set opposite to our names, the Same being due us from the War department pursuant to an Act of Congress bearing date March 3rd 1807, entitled ‘an Act makeing compensation to Messrs. Lewis & Clark and their companions.
. . . .
Name Period of Service Monthly Rate Amount Nathaniel Pryor 20 Oct. 1803 to 10 Oct. 1806 5 & 8 [$]278.50 William Bratton 20 Oct. 1803 to 10 Oct. 1806 178.33 1/3 178.50[2]Donald Jackson citing Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, … Continue reading
Senate Ratifies Louisiana Treaty
With a 24–7 vote, the Senate ratifies the treaty and conventions for the cession of Louisiana from France:
“Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein,) That the Senate do advise and consent to the ratification of the treaty, as well as to the ratification of the two conventions connected therewith, made and concluded at Paris, on [30 April 1803].[3]U.S. Congress. Executive Journal. 1:450 at “A Century of Lawmaking,” Library of Congress, accessed 11 August 2022, … Continue reading
Seven Federalist senators opposed ratification arguing that there was no constitutional provision authorizing the President to acquire territories. Jefferson and the Republicans argued the provision authorizing the governing of a territory presupposed the right to acquire that territory. The Supreme Court agreed with the later argument.[4]“The Senate Approves for Ratification the Louisiana Purchase Treaty” United States Senate accessed 11 August 2022, … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | 16 October 1803. Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick, ed., A Journey Through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997), 123. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Donald Jackson citing Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 2:378. |
| ↑3 | U.S. Congress. Executive Journal. 1:450 at “A Century of Lawmaking,” Library of Congress, accessed 11 August 2022, https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llej&fileName=001/llej001.db&recNum=456. |
| ↑4 | “The Senate Approves for Ratification the Louisiana Purchase Treaty” United States Senate accessed 11 August 2022, https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/treaties/senate-approves-louisiana-purchase-treaty.htm. |
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.
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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).