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Meriwether Lewis in Our Midst |
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Who was Meriwether Lewis?
Let's begin with some biographical information.
The British Army was sent in the 17th century to the American
colonies, and one soldier was named Robert Lewis.
One of his children became Col. Robert Lewis, who, with his wife, raised nine children.
Their fifth born son was named William.
He inherited almost 1,900 acres of land, plus slaves, a few miles
from Jefferson's Monticello home. In
1769 William married his Welsh second cousin Lucy Meriwether.
The Medwether family was land rich, owning some 18,000 acres near
Charlottesville. Between
1725 and 1774, there were eleven marriages uniting the prestigious Welsh
bloodlines of the Lewis and Meriwether families. Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774.
He had an older sister Jane, and a younger brother Reuben.
When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, William served as a
Lieutenant. In 1779, he
died from pneumonia after nearly drowning in the Rivanna River.
As was common custom then, widow Lucy soon married again to Capt.
John Marks. She was
a highly regarded mother and citizen.
She died at age 86. Young Lewis did not have an easy time gaining an education.
A gentleman's early education came through private study, usually
with a clergyman. Lewis did
study with the Rev. Matthew Maury, whose father, the Rev. James Maury,
was a teacher of Thomas Jefferson.
Lewis could not attend William and Mary College, due to caring
for his mother, Lucy, a widow for the second time, and her property.
Lewis was a true Virginia gentleman.
He owned slaves and riding horses; he was a tobacco planter, a
dancer, and a heavy drinker. Lewis
never married. One of
Lewis's advanced teachers was his neighbor, Thomas Jefferson, also of
Welsh descent, who taught Lewis the equivalent of a college degree in
math and botany. In 1792, Lewis eagerly heard about a proposed western
exploration and he caught the vision Jefferson's "Corp of
Discovery." In 1794, 20 year old Lewis enlisted in the Virginia
militia, as it was being called out by Gen. Washington to quell the
Whiskey Rebellion at Pittsburgh. Lewis
was given the rank of Ensign. Some
13,000 troops came to this area in October to subdue the rebellious
farmers in the Chartiers Valley who did not want to pay the excise tax
on whiskey. The 500+ rebels
were overwhelmed. To keep
order, Gen. Daniel Morgan, also of Welsh descent, remained near
Pittsburgh over the winter. Lewis
remained on duty with him. In
1795, Lewis enlisted in the regular army as a sharpshooter, serving
under Capt. William Clark who would later be his partner in the
expedition. Lewis made
repeated trips from Detroit to Pittsburgh as a messenger for Gen.
"Mad Anthony" Wayne. In
1801, President Jefferson made Lewis his secretary, primarily to screen
Army officers for their skills and to detect if they held to Federalist
politics. Lewis lived in
the White House with Jefferson, his father figure. In 1802, Jefferson approved Lewis to lead the project and a
fund of $2,500 was approved in February, 1803.
Lewis studied Albert Gallatin's maps of the west, from Washington County, and the
maps he had of the west. Lewis
ordered rifles and equipment from the Harper's Ferry armory, all to be
shipped to Pittsburgh. In
June, Jefferson tried to placate New England clergy who thought $2,500
was far too much money for such a foolish venture.
The President said the trip was partly to elevate the beliefs of
pagan Indians. Lewis wisely invited William Clark to be his equal partner. On July 4, it was announced that Napoleon had sold
all of Louisiana to the United States for $15 million dollars.
Now, Lewis and Clark would be passing through American
territory, not French. On
July 5, Lewis came to Pittsburgh. He
selected 12 men here to join the expedition.
The Pittsburghers wanted to be paid in money, but they really
wanted the reward of land grants for their service.
Lewis ordered a keel boat, and a pirogue, which is a flat bottom
boat for use in swamps. The
talented Pittsburgh boat builder was a drunk, and delivery of the boats
was frustratingly slow. On
July 29, Clark's letter of acceptance arrived in Pittsburgh. He agreed to serve! On August 31, 1803, Lewis left Pittsburgh for Louisville.
On October 15, Lewis met William Clark there, to continue their
leadership of the exciting three year expedition to find a route to the
Pacific ocean. The expedition is recorded in American history as a rousing
success. Sadly, however, Lewis's life ended in depression.
He committed suicide on October 11, 1809. References: "Undaunted
Courage" by Stephen E. Ambrose, 1996 Internet:
www.monticello.org www.lewisandclark.org "A History of the American People,"
by Paul Johnson, 1997 |
Beginning in 2003, the United States Will begin the
bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which was to
determine if there could be an overland access to the Pacific Ocean
using the Missouri and the Columbia rivers.