Day-by-Day / July 29, 1803

July 29, 1803

Lewis receives Clark's answer

In Pittsburgh, Meriwether Lewis receives William Clark‘s answer to his offer to join the expedition.

At the Falls of the Ohio, Clark promises to recruit a few suitable men and meet Lewis there.

William Clark at the Western Sea

by Jim Demetro

statue of William Clark at the Pacific Ocean

© 8 November 2015 Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Clark’s Answer

Clarksville July 18th 1803

Dear Lewis

I Shall indeaver to engage (temporally) a fiew men, such as will best answer our purpose, holding out the Idea as stated in your letter—The subject of which has been mentioned in Louisville several weeks agoe.

Pray write to me by every post after recving this letter, I shall be exceedingly anxious to hear from you. With every sincerity & friendship Yr. Obt. Sevt.

WM. CLARK[1]Clark to Lewis, in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 110–11.

With the help of William Clark, his slave York, and the nine young men from Kentucky that Clark recruited, the Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Pacific Ocean in November 1805. Regarding “the subject” mentioned in the press, see Jefferson’s Secrecy.

 

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Notes

Notes
↑1 Clark to Lewis, in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 110–11.

Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).