Short Biographies of Expedition Personnel                     Next>

Capt. Meriwether Lewis
Aug. 18, 1774 - Oct. 10, 1809

  • Lewis was born in Albermarle County, Va., to William and Lucy (Meriwether) Lewis.
  • His father died in 1779. His mother remarried six months later to Capt. John Marks.
  • Their home was 10 miles from Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello.
  • In 1794, Lewis joined the U.S. Army. He rose to the rank of infantry captain in 1800.
  • He served under the command of Capt. William Clark for six months in General Wayne's Chosen Rifle Co. They became close friends.
  • In 1801, Lewis became President Thomas Jefferson's private secretary.
  • Jefferson offered leadership of the Corps of Discovery to Lewis based on Lewis' skill in observation, intelligence, frontier experience and scholarship. Lewis was trained by experts in several fields.
  • In 1807, Lewis was appointed governor of Upper Louisiana Territory. He did not appear in St. Louis until 1808 to assume his position.
  • Lewis incurred a $4,000 debt during his tenure as governor. The new administration of President James Madison refused to acknowledge the debt. In 1809, Lewis left St. Louis for Washington to contest the government's refusal to acknowledge the debt.
  • On Oct. 10, 1809, while traveling with companions, Lewis died of gunshot wounds at an inn on the Natchez Trace (Trail) in Tennessee. His death is shrouded in mystery. Some claim he was murdered. Others say he committed suicide. In fact, Jefferson and Clark expressed little surprise at initial reports of Lewis' suicide; they were aware of the governor's melancholic tendencies.
  • Lewis never married.
  • His journals were not published in his lifetime.

Capt. William Clark
Aug. 1, 1770 - Sept. 1, 1838

  • Clark was born one of 10 children (the ninth child; the sixth son) near the Rappahannock River in Virginia.
  • All Clark's brothers were Revolutionary War veterans, including the famed George Rogers Clark.
  • After the war, the Clark family moved to Mulberry Hill, near Louisville, Ky. Clark joined the Kentucky militia at age 19. Soon he joined the regular army and reached the rank of lieutenant. As artillery officer, he received extensive cartography training and was sent on spy missions to observe Spanish fortifications on the Mississippi River.
  • By 1795, he had risen to the rank of captain.
  • Ensign Meriwether Lewis was transferred to Captain Clark's command in 1795.
  • In 1796, Clark left the army due to persistent health problems and family financial problems.
  • In 1803, Clark received a letter from Lewis to cocommand the Corps of Discovery.
  • The U.S. Army turned down a request to give Clark the rank of captain. He received the rank of lieutenant.
  • In March 1807, Clark started dual terms as Brigadier General of the Militia and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Upper Louisiana.
  • On Jan. 5, 1808, Clark married Julia Hancock of Fincastle, Va.
  • Jefferson made Clark responsible for the publication of the expedition journals.
  • In 1813, Clark was named governor of Missouri Territory.
  • In 1814, the journals, edited by Nicholas Biddle and others, were published in two volumes.
  • Clark continued to work as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
  • He died of natural causes in St. Louis on Sept. 1, 1838

Source: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/lewisclark/lcic/index.html