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Read Ebook: Opening the West With Lewis and Clark By Boat Horse and Foot Up the Great River Missouri Across the Stony Mountains and on to the Pacific When in the Years 1804 1805 1806 Young Captain Lewis the Long Knife and His Friend Captain Clark the Red Head Chief A by Sabin Edwin L Edwin Legrand Stephens Charles H Illustrator
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Ebook has 1744 lines and 64355 words, and 35 pages
THE EXPEDITION
The Purpose To get information upon the unexplored country extending from the interior of present Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia River in present Washington.
The Start At St. Louis, Monday, May 14, 1804.
The Finish At St. Louis, Tuesday, September 23, 1806.
Time Consumed Two years, four months, and nine days.
Distance Travelled To the mouth of the Columbia: 4134 miles. Back to St. Louis: 3555 miles. Counting side trips: 8000 miles, total.
Methods Employed Boats, horses and afoot.
The Route Up the Missouri River to its sources in present Montana; across the Bitter Root Mountains into present Idaho; by way of the Clearwater River, the Snake River and the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.
The Party Out of St. Louis Forty-five.
The Party Who Went Through Thirty-three: the two captains, twenty-three American soldiers, five French-Canadian and French-Indian boatmen and interpreters, one negro servant, one Indian woman guide, and one baby.
Deaths One.
Seriously Injured One.
Desertions One accomplished, one attempted; both early. None from the final party.
THE COUNTRY EXPLORED
THE RANK AND FILE
Born August 18, 1774, of Scotch ancestry, on the Ivy Creek plantation near Charlottesville, Albemarle Co., Virginia, and three miles from Monticello, the estate of Thomas Jefferson.
Father--William Lewis.
Mother--Lucy Meriwether.
Having fought bravely through the Revolution, after the successful siege of Yorktown ending the war, his father dies, in 1782.
In due time his mother marries a friend of the family, Captain John Marks, and removes to Georgia.
Little Meriwether is reared, with his brother Reuben and his sister Jane, younger than he, at Locust Hill, the family home, and also spends much time at "The Farm," of his uncle Nicholas Lewis, adjoining Monticello.
A lad of bold spirit, at eight years of age he is accustomed to sally forth alone with his dogs, at night, and hunt.
At thirteen, is placed in a Latin school, under Parson Maury, to study.
At eighteen, in 1792, he volunteers to Thomas Jefferson, then President Washington's Secretary of State, to explore up the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast for the American Philosophical Society. A distinguished scientist, Andr? Michaux, is selected, but the plan is given up.
At twenty, volunteers in the militia, at the call of President Washington for troops to put down the Whiskey Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania. Is soon commissioned a lieutenant in the regular army.
At twenty-three, commissioned captain.
At twenty-seven, in 1801, is appointed by President Jefferson his private secretary.
At twenty-nine, in 1803, is appointed by the president to head the government exploring expedition up the Missouri River and on across to the Pacific Ocean.
Leaves Washington July 5, 1803.
October 10, 1809, on his way by horse from St. Louis to Washington, while at a settler's cabin in present Lewis Co., Tennessee, 72 miles southwest of Nashville, he is shot, either by himself or by an assassin, and dies the next day, October 11. He is there buried. A monument has been erected over his grave.
Born August 1, 1770, in Caroline Co., tide-water Virginia.
Father--John Clark, of old Virginia Cavalier stock.
Mother--Ann Rogers, descendant of John Rogers, the "Martyr of Smithfield" burned at the stake in 1555, in England, for his religious beliefs.
William is the ninth of ten children, two others of whom have red hair. Five of his brothers enlist in the Revolution. One of these was the famous General George Rogers Clark, the "Hannibal of the West," who saved Kentucky and the Ohio country from the British and Indians.
The Clarks and the Lewises are well acquainted. George Rogers Clark was born at Charlottesville, and members of the Clark family frequently ride over there.
Little William early shows a love for frontier life.
After the close of the Revolution the Clarks remove, by horse and wagon, from Caroline Co., Virginia, to Western Kentucky, and establish themselves in a stockade and blockhouse overlooking the Ohio River, three miles below Louisville, then known as the Falls of the Ohio; Mulberry Hill, the new home is christened.
Young William wears buckskins and moccasins, shoots deer and buffalo, takes many trips with the famous Kentucky frontiersmen, and has for friend and teacher Daniel Boone.
In 1788, at seventeen years of age, he is commissioned ensign in the regular army.
Accompanies his brother, General George Rogers Clark, on the campaign to prevent the Indians from keeping the whites east of the Ohio River, and the Spaniards from closing the Mississippi to American commerce.
In 1791 is commissioned first lieutenant, Fourth Sub-Legion of the army. Serves under "Mad Anthony" Wayne against the Indians in Ohio. Leads a charge at the battle of Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794, where the celebrated chief Tecumseh is defeated.
Because of ill health, he retires from military service, in 1796, and lives at Mulberry Hill, to help his brother, the general, in business matters.
In July, 1803, accepts an offer from his friend and fellow officer, Captain Meriwether Lewis, requesting his company and assistance on an exploring trip up the Missouri River, through the Province of Louisiana, for the Government.
Is commissioned by President Jefferson second lieutenant of artillerists.
In October, 1803, he leaves with part of the expedition for St. Louis.
In 1808 marries Julia Hancock.
In 1813 is appointed governor of the Territory of Missouri.
In 1821 marries Harriet Kennerly-Radford, but is defeated in his candidacy for the governorship of the new State of Missouri.
Dies September 1, 1838, at St. Louis, his long-time home, aged 68 years.
ENLISTED FOR THE TRIP.
At Pittsburg, by Captain Lewis:
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