Lewis, Meriwether

(1774-1809), and Clark, William (1770-1838)

   American explorers. Sent by the United States Government, in 1803, to find an overland route to the Pacific by way of the Missouri. They ascended the Missouri in 1804, to the Mandan villages; wintered there; continued their journey in 1805, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and descended the Columbia River to its mouth. They spent the winter there, and retraced their steps in 1806 to the Missouri and St. Louis. Their party consisted of fourteen soldiers, nine young men from Kentucky, two boatmen, an interpreter, a hunter, and a negro servant of Captain Clark.

   Index: D At Clatsop, 44; on the Columbia, 59; their overland expedition, 60, 64, 66; mouth of the Columbia the objective, 66; objects of the enterprise, 66; personnel of the expedition, 67; route followed by, 67; information collected, 67; winter at Fort Clatsop, 67.

   Bib.: History of the Expedition to the Pacific Ocean, Philadelphia, 1814; new ed., New York, 1843. In addition to other reprints, three recent editions are: the Chicago edition of 1902, with introd. by Dr. J.K. Hosmer; the edition of 1893, in 4 vols., with copious notes and other critical equipment by Dr. Elliott Coues; and the even more elaborate edition prepared by Dr. R.G. Thwaites, New York, 1905, 8 vols. For biog. of Lewis and Clark, see Jefferson's Life of Lewis in Old South Leaflets, no. 44, and in the Hosmer edition; Cyc. Am. Biog.