In Washington City, Henry Dearborn of the War Department of the United States authorizes expedition expenditures for a lieutenant, corporal, sergeant, interpreter, and 10 privates—an expense of $2412.
A Soldier Worth His Salt
The Salt Works (2013)
© 2013 by Jo Ann Townsend. All rights reserved.
Early Roman soldiers received an allowance of salt, which was called a salarium—a “salary.” A good soldier had to be “worth his salt.”—from Soldier Pay by Joseph Mussulman. The soldier above carries a kettle of seawater to make into salt, a modern re-enactment of the expedition’s 1806 salt works.
Personnel Expenditures
War Department June 29th 1803.
Paymaster of the Army
You will please to pay Capt. Merewether Lewis Five hundred and fifty four dollars, being six Months pay for one Lieutenant, one Sergeant, one Corporal, and ten Privates; for which you will hold him accountable.
H. Dearborn[1]Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 68.
Financial Records to Date
Dr. Meriwether Lewis Capt.
To the United States 1803 To Warrants on the Treasurer June 27 for Warrant No. 8957 on account of expenses incident to extending the external commerce of the United States 1500 29 for Warrant No. 6966 for 6 Mo. Pay of 1 Lieut. 1 Sergt. 1 Corporal & 10 Privates 450 do. 6967 for Cloathing of 12 Men 1 Year 312 do. 6968 for the Pay of an Indian interpreter 1 Year 150[2]“Financial Records of the Expedition,” Ibid., 419.
Notes
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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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- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
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- Yellowstone Public Radio
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).