In the summer of 1803, President Thomas Jefferson called upon a personal friend to lead an exhibition into the soon to be acquired Louisiana Purchase. The friend who President Jefferson hand selected was a man by the name of Meriwether Lewis. Lewis was an aide to President Jefferson. Previous to working with the President, Lewis was a Captain in the Army. Lewis suggested that he needed a co-commander to take this long journey with. He offered the job to his friend William Clark. The two men served together in the Army. Lewis and Clark led an exhibition from St. Louis all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The pair came back from the exhibition with some very valuable information about the land, plants, animals, and inhabited it.
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18th, 1774 in Virginia. His came from a prominent family in Albemarle County. His father William was a successful planter in the area. He passed away when Meriwether was just five. His mother Lucy remarried and relocated the family to Georgia. Lewis returned to Virginia in his teens, finished his secondary education, and took over the family plantation (Horsman, n.d.). Several years later, President George Washington called out to local militias to help suppress the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. Lewis joined the Virginia militia and less than one year later in May of 1795, joined the United States Army. For the next six years, he served in the northwest part of the country. He gained valuable skills in Indian relations that he would use later during his exhibition (Horsman, n.d.). During this time, he met a man by the name of William Clark. Little did Lewis and Clark know their names would live on forever. In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson asked Lewis to come work as his private secretary. Jefferson and Lewis both come from the same area in western Virginia. Lewis gladly accepted the job. President Jefferson and Lewis often discussed the need for a westward exhibition. In January...