{"id":2974,"date":"2022-08-18T07:45:11","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T11:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/john-michael.net\/?p=2974"},"modified":"2023-03-26T14:08:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T18:08:38","slug":"merriwether-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/john-michael.net\/index.php\/2022\/08\/18\/merriwether-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"Meriwether Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meriwether Lewis<\/h1>\n
\n

Explorer\u00a0Meriwether Lewis<\/a>, who joined\u00a0William Clark<\/a>\u00a0to blaze a trail across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, was born on\u00a0August 18<\/strong>, 1774, near Charlottesville, Virginia.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lewis and Clark Map, with annotations\u2026by Meriwether Lewis<\/a>. Manuscript map on paper, 1803.\u00a0Discovery and Exploration<\/a>. Geography & Map Division<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lewis grew up roaming the woods of Albemarle County, near\u00a0Monticello<\/a>, the home of\u00a0Thomas Jefferson<\/a>. When Jefferson assumed the presidency in 1801, he selected Lewis as his private secretary. Two years later, Jefferson appointed Lewis to\u00a0lead an exploration<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Louisiana Purchase<\/a>\u2014the vast territory that the U.S. acquired from France in 1803.<\/p>\n

Known as the Corps of Discovery, the expedition set out from Camp River Dubois on May 14, 1804, heading northwest on the Missouri River. They hoped to discover a Northwest Passage\u2014a water route to the Pacific Ocean. The expedition wintered in present-day North Dakota, traveled to what is now Montana, and reached the mouth of the\u00a0Columbia River<\/a>\u00a0in present-day Washington before returning to St. Louis on September 23, 1806.<\/p>\n

Lewis and Clark kept\u00a0detailed journals<\/a> of their three-year journey. Originally published in 1814, the journals generated excitement about the unknown region and diminished Easterners\u2019 fears about venturing beyond the Mississippi<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n
\n

Captains Lewis & Clark holding a council with the Indians<\/a>. Illus. in: A journal of the voyages and travels of a corps of discovery: under the command of Capt. Lewis and Capt. Clarke of the Army of the United States [\u2026] Philadelphia: Printed for Matthew Carey, 1810. Prints & Photographs Division<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For their part in the three-year adventure, Lewis and Clark each received\u00a01,600 acres of public land<\/a>. Popular acclaim led to Lewis\u2019 assumption of the governorship of the Louisiana Territory and Clark\u2019s appointment as governor of the Missouri Territory. Meriwether Lewis died of mysterious circumstances\u2014either by suicide or murder\u2014on October 11, 1809.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
First Snow of the Season in the Foothills of the Little Belt Mountain, Lewis and Clark National Forest, Meagher County, Montana<\/a>. Russell Lee, photographer, Aug. 1942.\u00a0Farm Security Administration\/Office of War Information Color Photographs<\/a>. Prints & Photographs Division<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

BLOG POST COURTESY – LIBRARY OF\u00a0 CONGRESS<\/h2>\n