In early 1803, United States Surveyor General Andrew Ellicott trained Meriwether Lewis in celestial navigation and helped him acquire the requisite instruments for the expedition. On this day, he writes to President Thomas Jefferson expressing his views on the re-election of Governor Thomas McKean. He is also asking for news about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Andrew Ellicott
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, New York Public Library Digital Collections, digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-8f06-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 accessed 24 May 2022.
Asking for News
Lancaster October 20th. 1806.
Dear Sir
. . . . .
I expected that we should long before this have had the pleasure of seeing you in this place.—Would it not be proper for you to take a tour to the eastward before the meeting of Congress, or immediately after the adjournment?—
I feel myself very much interested in the success of Captn. Lewis: are there no accounts from him?—I do not mean by these interrogatories to draw an immediate answer,—your more important business is entitled to, and ought to have the preference.—
I am with great esteem your sincere friend, and hbe. servt,
Andw. Ellicott[1]Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4443 accessed 20 December 2025.
Notes
| ↑1 | Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4443 accessed 20 December 2025. |
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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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