President Thomas Jefferson writes two key supporters of the Western Expedition—botanist Benjamin Smith Barton and museum curator and artist Charles Willson Peale. He tells them that Meriwether Lewis will soon arrive with ‘much in the lines of botany and natural history’.
The Artist in His Museum, 1822
Self-Portrait
Oil on canvas. Accession No. 1878.1.2. Original size, 103¾ x 79-7/8 inches [263.5 x 202.9 cm]. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of Mrs. Sarah Harrison (The Joseph Harrison, Jr. Collection), No. 1878.1.2.
Much Botany and Natural History
Washington Dec. 21. 06.
Dear Sir
I expect Capt. Lewis here to-day or tomorrow. he brings with him much in the lines of botany, & Nat. history. I presume that he will go on with them to Philadelphia after some delay here. he will doubtless ask the aid of yourself & brother literati, of Philada. in his arrangement of these articles. Accept my friendly salutations & assurances of my great esteem & respect.
Th: Jefferson[1]Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Smith Barton, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4723, accessed 5 January 2026.
Peale’s National Treasure
Washington Dec. 21. 06.
Dear Sir
I expect Capt Lewis here to-day or tomorrow. I presume that after a while he will go on to Philadelphia and carry some of his new acquisitions. having proposed to Congress the subject of a National university, should they come into it it will be no small part of the gratification I shall recieve from it, that the means will be furnished of making your Museum a national establishment. Accept my friendly salutations & assurances of great esteem.
Th: Jefferson[2]Thomas Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4727.
Notes
| ↑1 | Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Smith Barton, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4723, accessed 5 January 2026. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Thomas Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4727. |
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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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