Jefferson, Thomas

Excerpt from "Jefferson's Instructions to Lewis"

Delivered April 1803; published in The Journals of Lewis and Clark,
edited by Bernard DeVoto, 1953

The Louisiana Purchase, the vast expanse of land acquired by the United States in 1803, was unknown country to all but a few people. Not long after the purchase, President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; served 1801–9) ordered that the area be explored, and within a few years, the explorers' reports would make the region less mysterious to Americans. Jefferson had long been interested in exploration of the land west of the Mississippi River. In the 1790s, land-hungry pioneers had flooded into the region just west of the Appalachian Mountains, creating settlements as far west as the Mississippi River. It seemed inevitable that Americans would eventually move across the Mississippi. By the late 1790s, people in Britain, France, and Spain thought that the United States might one day reach all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson, too, envisioned America stretching westward to the Pacific.

In November 1802, President Jefferson had discussed with a few people the possibility of sending an exploration party across the vast region then known as Louisiana to a distant land called Oregon. On January 18, 1803, Jefferson had secretly sent a message to Congress requesting funds for such an expedition, and Congress had granted his request. Jefferson thus planned the exploration of the West at least six months before the United States had the unexpected opportunity to purchase the entire Louisiana region. Historians believe that Jefferson had decided the United States would ultimately extend to the Pacific Ocean. Many think he had already formed this opinion by the time he was inaugurated as president in March 1801. This would explain why Jefferson was eager to send an exploratory party westward as soon as possible.

When Jefferson received the terms of the Louisiana Purchase in mid-May 1803, he was astounded. He had never expected to acquire the entire parcel of land at one time and so easily. His expedition plans took on a new urgency. Now he could officially send an exploratory force into the area, which would soon be part of the United States (the Senate still had to ratify, or approve, the purchase, and that did not happen until October 20, 1803).

In late April 1803, President Jefferson had written a letter to Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809) of the First Infantry, U.S. Army, instructing him on how to conduct an expedition through the vast region called Louisiana. Lewis had considerable military and wilderness experience, but he had been serving as Jefferson's private secretary since Jefferson offered him the position in February 1801. It is likely that Jefferson already knew he wanted Lewis to lead an expedition west and therefore appointed him as one of his closest colleagues so they could discuss expedition plans for the future. As soon as Congress authorized funds for the expedition in January 1803, Jefferson appointed Lewis as the expedition leader.

Captain Lewis, who was twenty-nine years old at the time, chose thirty-three-year-old William Clark (1770–1838) of Virginia to be the coleader of the expedition. Clark served in the American Revolution (1775–83) and fought in the successful Fallen Timbers campaign in 1794 led by Brigadier General Anthony Wayne (1745–1796). Clark was also the younger brother of American Revolution hero George Rogers Clark (1752–1818).

Several of Jefferson's goals for the Lewis and Clark expedition are clearly spelled out in the following excerpt. There were three clear goals: (1) to find a water route connecting the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean; (2) to learn as much as possible about the plants, animals, geography, and climate of the region; and (3) to befriend the Native Americans living in the region so as to pave the way for trading.

The chief goal of the expedition was finding a water route for trade along the Missouri River and connecting rivers all the way to the Pacific. By 1803, American ships had established an extensive trade of fur products taken from the Pacific Northwest; the furs were transported either around the southern tip of South America, Cape Horn, and northward to the east coast of the United States and to Europe, or around the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope. The trading trips would take months if not years. If a water route could be found acrossNorth America, it would take considerably less time and cost considerably less money to ship the furs and other products. Various French, British, and Spanish explorers had tried unsuccessfully to find such a passage, commonly called the Northwest Passage. However, Jefferson still had hope that it existed. The search for the Northwest Passage also fit in with one of Jefferson's unspoken goals: He hoped that with the discovery of new water routes, American trappers could tap into the rich Canadian fur trade just east of the Rocky Mountains and transport the furs to the United States.

The second goal of the expedition fed Jefferson's scientific interests. He was eager to learn as much as he could about the plants, animals, geography, and climate of the West. He instructed Lewis and Clark to take samples and carefully record their findings. The third goal pertained to Jefferson's desire to befriend the Native Americans by having Lewis and Clark learn as much as possible about their ways of life. Jefferson also wanted the explorers to tell the Native Americans that "the Great Leader"—that is, the president, Jefferson himself—now resided in Washington, D.C., not London or Paris. The United States now controlled these lands, or intended to very soon, rather than more distant European nations. Jefferson hoped that several chiefs would travel to Washington to meet him and that a general peace between the tribes of the West and the white settlers could be achieved.

The expedition had some hidden goals, too. For example, Jefferson expected that U.S. forces would at some point have to defend the Louisiana Purchase against the Spanish. Therefore, in his instructions, he asked Lewis to learn all he could about the geography of the land south of the Missouri River, especially the areas through which the Río Bravo (present-day Rio Grande) and the Colorado River flow. This land was held by Spain. Jefferson needed to know its surrounding geography in order to plan for the defense of the new U.S. territory.

Jefferson had another hidden goal: If the expedition was successful and the explorers were able to travel all the way west through Oregon to the Pacific, he hoped that would give the United States a more solid claim to Oregon. At that time, Oregon was a region that extended north of Spanish California into Canada; its eastern border ran along the Rocky Mountains. Britain still held a claim to Oregon, but in 1792 Captain Robert Gray (1755–1806), an American, had sailed from the Pacific into a broad river that he named after his ship, the Columbia. Jefferson reasoned that Gray's discovery of the Columbia River, coupled with a successful trip through Oregon by Lewis and Clark, would give the United States a solid claim to Oregon.

Between forty-five and fifty men made up the expedition. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. Lewis was the scientist, recording the plants and animals he observed. Clark was the navigator, journal keeper, and mapmaker; he also had extraordinary negotiation skills that he used when the expedition encountered Native Americans. The expedition members packed their boats with gifts for the Native Americans, including glass beads, mirrors, and metal peace medallions.

The Corps of Discovery left St. Louis on May 14, 1804. Lewis and Clark followed the Missouri River northwest across the Great Plains, then wintered with the Mandan Indians in North Dakota. There they hired French Canadian fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau (1758–1843) as a Native American interpreter for the journey over the Rockies to the Pacific. His wife, Sacagawea (c. 1786–1812), also accompanied the party. Sacagawea was a Native American from the Shoshone tribe, so she was very useful to the expedition. She translated Native American languages, showed the men where to hunt and fish, instructed them in the use of wild plants for food and medicine, and helped them acquire horses for the trip over the Rockies.

Finding their way down the Columbia River, the party spent the rainy winter of 1805–6 on the present-day Oregon coast at Fort Clatsop. They had to build the fort themselves when they arrived. The expedition returned to St. Louis on September 23, 1806, and met with cheers of surprise. The explorers had been given up for lost a few months earlier.

Things to remember while reading excerpts from "Jefferson's Instructions to Lewis":

• When Jefferson penned the instructions, he had not received word of the Louisiana Purchase. He assumed the expedition members would not be traveling in U.S. territory.
• Jefferson carefully outlined the goals of the expedition. The key aspect of the mission was to find a water route to connect the Pacific Ocean with the Mississippi River.
• In general, Jefferson's two main interests were scientific inquiries and agriculture. His instructions to Lewis indicated his eagerness to learn about the natural world and to perhaps someday expand U.S. holdings of land so American agriculture would have room to grow.
• Variant spellings and Jefferson's frequent spelling errors and aversion to capitalization are evident in his letter to Lewis.

Excerpt from "Jefferson's Instructions to Lewis"

To Meriwether Lewis, esquire, Captain of the 1st regiment of infantry of the United States of America: Your situation as Secretary of the President of the United States has made you acquainted with theobjects of myconfidential message of Jan. 18, 1803, to the legislature. you have seen the act they passed, which, tho' expressed in general terms, was meant tosanction those objects, and you are appointed tocarry them into execution.

Instruments forascertaining, bycelestial observations, the geography of the country thro' which you will pass, have already been provided. light articles forbarter, & presents among the Indians, arms for your attendants, say for from 10 to 12 men, boats, tents, & other travelling apparatus, with ammunition, medicine, surgical instruments & provisions you will have prepared with such aids as the Secretary atWar can yield in his department; & from him also you will recieve authority toengage among our troops, by voluntary agreement, the number ofattendants above mentioned, over whom you, as their commanding officer, areinvested with all the powers the laws give in such a case.

As your movements while within the limits of the U.S. will be better directed by occasional communications, adapted to circumstances as they arise, they will not benoticed here. what follows willrespect your proceedings after your departure from the U.S.

Your mission has been communicated to the Ministers here from France, Spain & Great Britain, and through them to their governments; and such assurances given them ..., as we trust will satisfy them. the country of Louisiana having beenceded by Spain to France, the passport you have from the Minister of France, the representative of the presentsovereign, of the country, will be a protection with allit's subjects; And that from the Minister of England will entitle you to the friendly aid of any traders of that allegiance with whom you may happen to meet.

The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it'scourse & communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes ofcommerce.

Beginning at the mouth of the Missouri, you will takeobservations of latitude & longitude, at all remarkeable points on the river, & especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands, & other places & objects distinguished by such natural marks & characters of a durable kind, as that they may with certainty be recognised hereafter. the courses of the river between these points of observation may be supplied by the compass, thelog-line & by time, corrected by the observations themselves. the variations of the compass too, in different places, should be noticed.

The interesting points of theportage between theheads of the Missouri & the water offering the best communication with the Pacific Ocean should also befixed by observation, & the course of that water to the ocean, in the same manner as that of the Missouri.

Your observations are to be taken with great pains & accuracy, to be entered distinctly & intelligibly for others as well as yourself, to comprehend all the elements necessary, with the aid of the usual tables, to fix the latitude and longitude of the places at which they were taken, & are to berendered to the war office, for the purpose ofhaving the calculations madeconcurrently by proper persons within the U.S. several copies of these, as well as of your other notes, should be made at leisure times, & put into the care of the most trustworthy of your attendants, to guard, by multiplying them, against the accidental losses to which they will be exposed. a further guard would be that one of these copies be written on the paper of the birch, as less liable to injury from damp than common paper.

The commerce which may be carried on with thepeople inhabiting the line you will pursue, renders a knolege of those people important. you will thereforeendeavor to make yourself acquainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall admit, with the names of thenations & their numbers; the extent & limits of their possessions; their relations with other tribes or nations; their language, traditions, monuments; their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, hunting, war, arts, & theimplements for these; their food, clothing, & domestic accommodations; the diseases prevalent among them, & the remedies they use; moral & physical circumstances which distinguish them from the tribes we know; peculiarities in their laws, customs &dispositions; and articles of commerce they may need or furnish, & to what extent.

And, considering the interest which every nation has in extending & strengthening the authority of reason & justice among the people around them, it will be useful to acquire what knolege you can of the state of morality, religion & information among them, as it may better enable those who endeavor to civilize & instruct them, to adapt their measures to the existing notions & practises of those on whom they are tooperate.

Other objects worthy of notice will be the soil & face of the country, it's growth & vegetable productions; especially those not of the U.S.; the animals of the country generally, & especially those not known in the U.S.; the remains and accounts of any which may be deemed rare or extinct; the mineral productions of every kind; but more particularly metals, limestone, pit coal, &saltpetre; salines & mineral waters, noting the temperature of the last, & such circumstances as may indicate their character; volcanic appearances; climate as characterized by the thermometer, by the proportion of rainy, cloudy & clear days, by lightening, hail, snow, ice, by theaccess & recess of frost, by the winds prevailing at different seasons, the dates at which particular plants put forth or lose their flower, or leaf, times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles or insects.

Altho' your route will be along the channel of the Missouri, yet you will endeavor to inform yourself, by enquiry, of the character & extent of the country watered by it's branches, & especially on it's southern side. The North river orRio Bravo which runs into the gulph of Mexico, and the North river, or Rio colorado which runs into the gulph of California, are understood to be the principal streamsheading opposite to the waters of the Missouri, and running Southwardly. whether the dividing grounds between the Missouri & them are mountains or flatlands, what are their distance from the Missouri, the character of the intermediate country, & the people inhabiting it, are worthy of particular enquiry. The Northern waters of the Missouri are less to be enquired after, because they have beenascertained to a considerable degree, and are still in a course of ascertainment by English traders, & travellers. but if you can learn anything certain of the most Northern source of the Missisipi, & of its position relative to thelake of the woods it will be interesting to us. some account too of the path of the Canadian traders from the Missisipi, at the mouth of theOuisconsin river, to where it strikes the Missouri and of the soil & rivers in it's course, is desireable.

In all yourintercourse with the natives treat them in the most friendly &conciliatory manner which their own conduct willadmit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey, satisfy them of its innocence, make them acquainted with the position, extent, character, peaceable & commercialdispositions of the U.S. of our wish to be neighborly, friendly & useful to them, & of our dispositions to acommercial intercourse with them;confer with them on the points most convenient as mutualemporiums, & the articles of most desireable interchange for them & us. if a few of their influential chiefs, within practicable distance, wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them with authority to call on our officers, on their entering the U.S. to have themconveyed to this place at the public expence. if any of them should wish to have some of their young people brought up with us, & taught such arts as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct & take care of them. such a mission, whether of influential chiefs, or of young people, would give some security to your own party. [Jefferson believed the Native Americans would be less likely to start conflicts with members of the expedition if some of their own people were back east with the Americans.] carry with you some matter of thekinepox, inform those of them with whom you may be of it'[s]efficacy as a preservative from the small-pox; and instruct & incourage them in the use of it. this may be especially done wherever you winter.

As it is impossible for us to foresee in what manner you will be recieved by those people, whether with hospitality or hostility, so is it impossible to prescribe the exact degree ofperseverance with which you are to pursue your journey. we value too much the lives of citizens to offer them to probable destruction. your numbers will be sufficient to secure you against the unauthorised opposition of individuals, or of small parties: but if a superior force, authorised, or not authorised, by a nation, should bearrayed against your further passage, & inflexibly determined toarrest it, you must decline it's further pursuit, and return. in the loss of yourselves, we should lose also the information you will have acquired. by returning safely with that, you may enable us to renew theessay with better calculated means. to your own discretion therefore must be left the degree of danger you may risk, & the point at which you should decline, only saying we wish you to err on the side of your safety, & to bring back your party safe, even if it be with less information.

As far up the Missouri as the white settlements extend, an intercourse will probably be found to exist between them and the Spanishposts at St. Louis, oppositeCahokia, orSte. Genevieve oppositeKaskaskia. From still further up the river, the traders may furnish aconveyance for letters. beyond that, you may perhaps be able to engage Indians to bring letters for the government to Cahokia or Kaskaskia, on promising that they shall there receive such specialcompensation as you shall havestipulated with them. Avail yourself of these means to communicate to us, at seasonable intervals, a copy of your journal, notes & observations of every kind, putting intocypher whatever might do injury if betrayed.

Should you reach the Pacific ocean ... inform yourself of the circumstances which may decide whether the furs of those parts may not be collected as advantageously at the head of the Missouri (convenient as is supposed to the waters of the Colorado & Oregon or Columbia) as atNootka sound, or any other point of that coast; & that trade be consequently conducted through the Missouri & U.S. more beneficially than by thecircumnavigation now practised.

On your arrival on that coast endeavor to learn if there be any port within your reach frequented by the sea-vessels of any nation, and to send two of your trusty people back by sea, in such way as shall appear practicable, with a copy of your notes. and should you be of opinion that the return of your party by the way they went will be eminently dangerous, then ship the whole, & return by sea by way ofCape Horn, or thecape of good Hope, as you shall be able. as you will bewithout money, clothes or provisions, you must endeavor to use thecredit of the U.S. to obtain them; for which purpose openletters of credit shall be furnished you, authorising you to draw upon theExecutive of the U.S. or any of its officers in any part of the world, on whichdrafts can be disposed of, and to apply with our recommendations to the Consuls, agents, merchants, or citizens of any nation with which we have intercourse, assuring them in our name that any aids they may furnish you, shall honorably repaid, and on demand. ...

Should you find it safe to return by the way you go, after sending two of your party around by sea, or with your whole party, if no conveyance by sea can be found, do so; making such observations on your return as may serve to supply, correct or confirm those made on your outward journey.

On re-entering the U.S. and reaching a place of safety, discharge any of your attendants who may desire & deserve it,procuring for them immediate paiment of allarrears of pay & cloathing which may haveincurred since their departure, & assure them that they shall be recommended to theliberality of the legislature for thegrant of a souldier's portion of land each, as proposed in my message to Congress &repair yourself yourpapers to the seat of government.

To provide, on the accident of your death, against anarchy, dispersion & the consequent danger to your party, and total failure of the enterprise, you are hereby authorised, by any instrument signed & written in your own hand, to name the person among them who shall succeed to the command on your decease, and by like instruments to change the nomination from time to time, as further experience of the characters accompanying you shall point out superior fitness. ...

Given under my hand at the city of Washington, this 20th day of June 1803.

What happened next ...

A water route connecting the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean was not found. At last, it was accepted that no such route existed. However, Lewis and Clark caught the

American Philosophical Society

Founded in 1743 at the urging of American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), the American Philosophical Society was the first scholarly society in the New World, as Europeans at that time called North and South America, devoted to the expansion of scientific knowledge. The society's goal was to learn more about "natural philosophy," or nature and the physical universe.

Established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Franklin's hometown, the society gained international fame by supporting studies of astronomy in the 1760s. Scientist David Rittenhouse (1732–1796) set up his telescope on the grounds of the Pennsylvania State House (the building now known as Independence Hall) and made observations of the planet Venus.

In 1780, Pennsylvania donated a portion of land next to the Pennsylvania State House to the society. There, the society built its headquarters, Philosophical Hall, between 1785 and 1789. At the hall, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark received instruction on plant and animal life, geography, and Native American life in preparation for their expedition through the territories of Louisiana and Oregon. Lewis and Clark's journals and the plant and animal specimens they collected on the expedition are still on display at Philosophical Hall.

By the late 1700s and early 1800s, many of America's most famous Founding Fathers were members of the Philosophical Society, including the first four presidents: George Washington (1732–1799; served 1789–97), John Adams (1735–1826; served 1797–1801), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; served 1801–9), and James Madison (1751–1836; served 1809–17). Such leaders encouraged studies to improve agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation, all of which strengthened the young nation's economic base.

Simply being elected to membership in the society is a great honor. A sampling of members from the nineteenth and twentieth century includes inventor of the steamboat Robert Fulton (1765–1815), ornithologist John J. Audubon (1785–1851), biologist and evolution theorist Charles Darwin (1809–1882), inventor Thomas Edison (1847–1931), scientific genius Albert Einstein (1879–1955), poet Robert Frost (1874–1963), scientist Marie Curie (1867–1934), and anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901–1978).

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the society has over seven hundred members worldwide (85 percent live in the United States). During the twentieth century, two hundred of its members received the Nobel Prize, a highly prestigious worldwide award given every year to several individuals for intellectual achievement.

interest and imagination of Americans. Clark's mapping was very accurate, and Lewis's description of abundant wildlife excited trappers. Many Americans believed that the nation's future was in the West. The first to follow the early explorers' footsteps were rugged, solitary "mountain men," fur trappers from Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri. They went to the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest to trap and make their fortune in furs. Many of the mountain men headed to areas that Lewis and Clark recommended for trapping, including the valley of the Yellowstone River (present-day Yellowstone National Park). Wealthy American businessman John Jacob Astor (1763–1848) established his Pacific Fur Company at Fort Astoria (present-day Astoria, Oregon) in 1811. The establishment of Astor's company strengthened America's claim to Oregon. Americans began to think of the Oregon region as their own.

In 1809, Meriwether Lewis died in a remote cabin in Tennessee, where he was staying on his way from St. Louis to Washington, D.C. Lewis had frequently suffered from bouts of depression, so many people think he may have taken his own life. Whatever the circumstance, his death caused a delay in the final report of the expedition. However, many of his notes on Native Americans had been transferred back to the War Department in Washington, D.C., during the expedition. They were published in A Statistical View of the Indian Nations Inhabiting the Territory of Louisiana. The publication was the first survey of Native American tribes west of the Mississippi. Nicholas Biddle's History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark is the first detailed account of the expedition. Biddle (1786–1844) wrote History from Lewis and Clark's notes. Published in 1814, his book was eagerly read in the United States and Europe.

Bernard DeVoto, editor of The Journals of Lewis and Clark, states that the most important result of the expedition was "the beginning of knowledge of the American West." The vast territories of Louisiana and Oregon had largely been a blank to Americans before the expedition. After Lewis and Clark returned, Western rivers and mountains and the Pacific Ocean all became real—they could be read about and looked at on a map.

Did you know ...

• Lewis and Clark brilliantly led the expedition chiefly because they worked so well together. As they traveled, both men carefully thought out their next moves, and each had a talent for making the right decisions and taking the correct turns to find favorable routes.
• Very few emergencies occurred on the trip—a sign of excellent leadership and planning. Only one member of the expedition died, and that was Charles Floyd (c. 1782–1804). His death in August 1804 was believed to have been caused by a ruptured appendix, a medical emergency that would have been fatal in any situation in 1804.
• Clark had a better ability to communicate with the Native Americans than Lewis. As a result, communications were frequently peaceful though many Native American groups were skeptical of their message of friendship. The show of guns by the expedition kept Native American groups cautiously friendly. Known as the Red-Headed Chief, Clark eventually gained the status as a leader in Native American relations among U.S. citizens.

Consider the following ...

• Outline the instructions and find the various goals of the expedition embedded in the instructions.
• Considering the detailed instructions he wrote, how long do you think Jefferson might have been planning the expedition—only a short while or for a long time? Explain your answer.
• Why did Jefferson instruct Lewis to make so many copies of the expedition notes while the trip was still in progress? Find all the actions Jefferson instructed Lewis to take to be sure copies got back to Washington, D.C.
• Obtain a twentieth- or twenty-first-century edition of Lewis and Clark's journals. Read for yourself the Lewis and Clark adventures.

Objects: Substance.

Confidential: Secret.

Sanction: Authorize.

Carry them into execution: Complete them.

Ascertaining: Determining.

Celestial observations: Observing the position of the stars.

Barter: Trade.

Engage among: Sign up.

Attendants: Soldiers.

Invested: Authorized.

Noticed: Mentioned.

Respect your proceedings: Pertain to your travels.

Ceded: Formally turned over.

Sovereign: Ruler.

Its subjects: French citizens you should meet.

Course & communication: Path and connections.

Commerce: Business.

Observations of latitude & longitude: A system for recording any specific location in the world using a commonly agreed upon square grid.

Log-line: A one-sentence description of what feature you are locating.

Portage: Passage.

Heads: Beginning points.

Fixed by observation: Location measured by making latitude and longitude calculations.

Rendered: Delivered.

Concurrently: At the same time.

People inhabiting the line you will pursue: Native Americans living along the route of the expedition.

Renders a knolege of those people important: Requires essential knowledge of these people.

Endeavor: Try.

Nations: Native American tribes.

Implements: Tools.

Dispositions: Characteristics.

Operate: Manage.

Saltpetre: Salts.

Access & recess: The pattern of cold frosts that would hinder agriculture by affecting the growing seasons.

Rio Bravo: The present-day Rio Grande; the name means "big river" in English.

Heading opposite to: Flowing to the south and west rather than to the east.

Ascertained: Learned about.

Lake of the Woods: A lake in northern Minnesota very near the Canadian border.

Ouisconsin: Wisconsin.

Intercourse: Communications.

Conciliatory: Agreeable.

Admit: Allow.

Allay all jealousies: Remove all fears.

Dispositions: Natures.

Commercial intercourse: Profitable association.

Confer: Discuss.

Emporiums: Trade locations.

Conveyed: Brought.

Kinepox: Cowpox vaccination.

Efficacy: Effectiveness.

Perseverance: Persistence.

Arrayed: Organized for battle.

Arrest: Stop.

Essay: Attempted expedition.

Posts: Property.

Cahokia: A major Native American settlement in Illinois across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

Ste. Genevieve: A Missouri settlement on the Mississippi River.

Kaskaskia: An Illinois settlement on the Mississippi River.

Conveyance: Means of transportation.

Compensation: Payment.

Stipulated: Agreed to.

Cypher: Coded message.

Nootka sound: West coast of Vancouver Island in present-day British Columbia, Canada.

Circumnavigation: Travel by boat around the southern tip of South America or South Africa.

Cape Horn: The southern tip of South America.

Cape of Good Hope: The southern tip of South Africa.

Credit: Good name; repute.

Letters of credit: Documents stating that the U.S. government will pay for all supplies.

Executive: President.

Drafts can be disposed of: Money may be obtained.

Procuring: Obtaining.

Arrears: Unpaid debts.

Incurred: Accumulated.

Liberality: Generosity.

Grant: Gift.

Repair yourself: Go.

Papers: Expedition records.

Given under my hand: Signed.

For More Information

Books

Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

DeVoto, Bernard, ed. The Journals of Lewis and Clark. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1953.

Duncan, Dayton. Lewis and Clark: An Illustrated History. New York: Knopf, 1997.

Slaughter, Thomas P. Exploring Lewis and Clark: Reflections on Men and Wilderness. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

Web Sites

American Philosophical Society.http://www.amphilsoc.org (accessed on July 18, 2005).

"Fill Up the Canvas ... Rivers of Words: Exploring with Lewis and Clark." American Memory, Library of Congress.http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/lewisandclark/resources_1.html (accessed on July 18, 2005).

"The Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery." U.S. National Park Service.http://www.nps.gov/jeff/LewisClark2/HomePage/HomePage.htm (accessed on July 18, 2005).

Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc.http://www.lewisandclark.org (accessed on July 18, 2005).