In Washington City, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin writes to President Thomas Jefferson to discuss the logistics of the appointment of Meriwether Lewis as governor of Upper Louisiana Territory.
In the Illinois Territory near this date, future Governor Lewis, Clark, and the Osage and Mandan delegates[1]For the delegations traveling with Lewis and Clark on this day, see The Osage Delegations and Sheheke’s Delegation. turn east near present Xenia where the Kaskaskia-Vincennes and St. Louis-Vincennes traces merge.[2]For more on the two routes between St. Louis and Vincennes, see October 21, 1806 and October 22, 1806.
Meriwether Lewis (Posthumous)
Colorized photograph of the original created 1904. Courtesy Missouri Historical Society, collections.mohistory.org/resource/907672.
Lewis’s New Appointment
Oct. 25. 1806
Dear Sir
I do not know the news of last mail, the fortunate arrival of Capn. Lewis at S. Louis excepted. If you select him for Governor, ought not provision to be made for the contingency of his leaving that place for Washington before the arrival of a commission? and does not that render the appointment of a Secretary who may govern in the interim still more important? This is the only idea which that point suggests to me.
Respectfully
Albert Gallatin[3]Albert Gallatin to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4468 accessed 26 December 2025.
Many Creek Crossings
In February 1779, William Clark’s more famous brother George Rogers Clark had difficulty getting his troops across the many creeks tributary to the Skillet Fork:
[February] 10th. Crossed the river of the Petit Fork upon trees that were felled for that purpose, the water being so high there was no fording it. Still raining and no tents. Encamped near the river. Stormy weather.
—Joseph Bowman[4]Joseph Bowman, “Journal of the Proceedings of George R. Clark, from the 27th January, 1779, to March 20th Inst. (1779)”, in William H. English, Conquest of the Country Northwest of the … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | For the delegations traveling with Lewis and Clark on this day, see The Osage Delegations and Sheheke’s Delegation. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | For more on the two routes between St. Louis and Vincennes, see October 21, 1806 and October 22, 1806. |
| ↑3 | Albert Gallatin to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-4468 accessed 26 December 2025. |
| ↑4 | Joseph Bowman, “Journal of the Proceedings of George R. Clark, from the 27th January, 1779, to March 20th Inst. (1779)”, in William H. English, Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio 1778–1783 and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark (Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merill Company, 1897), 1:569. |
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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