Lewis remains in Cincinnati instead of leaving as previously planned. His crew is likely resting, and Lewis may be finalizing plans to collect fossils at Big Bone Lick.
Lewis’s Original Plans
Cincinnati Sept. 28th 1803.
Dear Clark,
It is probable before the receipt of this letter that I shall be with you; I shall leave this day after tomorrow [30 September]. Adieu and believe me your very sincere friend and associate,
MERIWETHER LEWIS.[1]Donald Jackson, ed. Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 125.
Clark’s Find
Tooth of Mastodon americanum, from Big Bone Lick, Kentucky.
Jefferson Collection, Department of Vertebrate Zoology. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
Elephant Teeth
Cincinnati, October 3rd 1803.
Dear Sir,
The Elephants teeth which I saw in the possession of Dr. Goforth weigh from four to eleven pounds, and appear to me precisely to resemble a specimen of these teeth which, I saw in the possession of Dr. Wister [Caspar Wistar] of Philadelphia . . . .
MERIWETHER LEWIS. Capt.
1st. U.S. Regt. Infty.[2]Lewis to Jefferson. Ibid. 130.
Above: This specimen was collected for Thomas Jefferson by William Clark in 1807. It was once part of Jefferson’s display at Monticello, and later in the President’s House in Washington City.
Notes
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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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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).