# Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen, 18 August 1813 CITATION: “Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen, 18 August 1813,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0002. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 6, 11 March to 27 November 1813 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, pp. 418–426.] URL (original): https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0002 URL (fetched, Wayback Machine capture): https://web.archive.org/web/2024/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0002 DATE FETCHED: 2026-09-14 TRANSCRIPTION: scholarly edition text (Princeton, Papers of Thomas Jefferson / Madison Papers, as published on Founders Online); text below is verbatim from the fetched page, including the editors' source note and footnotes. Superscripts are flattened by the HTML-to-text conversion (e.g. 'Oct r' = Oct^r, '11 th' = 11^th). NOTE: This is Jefferson's biographical sketch of Lewis written for the 1814 Biddle-Allen History. The editors' introductory Editorial Note (Founders Online id 03-06-02-0341-0001) is appended below the letter. ---- VERBATIM TEXT (Founders Online page) ---- Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen, 18 August 1813 I. Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen Monticello. Aug. 18. 1813. Sir In compliance with the request conveyed in your letter of May 25. I have endeavored to obtain, 1 from the relations & friends of the late Governor Lewis, information of such incidents of his life as might be not unacceptable to those who may read the Narrative of his Western discoveries. the ordinary occurrences of a private life, and those also while acting in a subordinate sphere in the army, in a time of peace, are not deemed sufficiently interesting to occupy the public attention; but a general account of his parentage, with such smaller incidents as marked early character are briefly noted; and to these are added, as being peculiarly within my own knolege, whatever related to the public mission, of which an account is now to be published. the result of my enquiries & recollections, shall now be offered, to be enlarged or abridged as you may think best; 2 or otherwise to be used with the materials you may have collected from other sources. 3 Meriwether Lewis, late Governor of Louisiana, 4 was born on the 18 th of Aug. 1774. near the town of Charlottesville, in the county of Albemarle, in Virginia, of one of the distinguished families of that state. John Lewis, one of his father’s uncles, was a member of the king’s council, before the revolution. another of them, Fielding Lewis, married a sister of Gen l Washington. his father William Lewis, was the youngest of five sons of Col o Robert Lewis of Albemarle, the fourth of whom, Charles, was one of the early 5 patriots who stepped forward in the commencement of the revolution, and commanded one of the regiments first raised in Virginia, and placed on Continental establishment. happily situated at home, with a wife and young family, and a fortune placing him at ease, he left all, to aid in the liberation of his country, from foreign 6 usurpations, then first unmasking 7 their ultimate end & aim. his good sense, integrity, bravery, enterprize and remarkable bodily powers, marked 8 him as an officer of great promise. but he unfortunately died early in the revolution. Nicholas Lewis, the second of his father’s brothers, commanded a regiment of militia in the succesful expedition of 1776. against the Cherokee Indians; who, seduced by the agents of the British government, to take up the hatchet against us, had committed great havoc on our Southern frontier, by murdering and scalping helpless women and children, according to their cruel and cowardly 9 principles of warfare. the chastisement they then recieved closed the history of their wars, prepared them for 10 recieving the elements of 11 civilisation, which, zealously inculcated 12 by the present government of the United States, have rendered them an industrious, peaceable and happy people. this member of the family of Lewises, whose bravery was so usefully proved on this occasion, was endeared to all who knew him by his inflexible 13 probity, courteous disposition, benevolent heart, & engaging modesty & manners. he was the 14 Umpire of all the private differences of his county, selected always by both parties. he was also the guardian of Meriwether Lewis, of whom we are now to speak, and who had lost his father at an early age. 15 he continued some years under the fostering 16 care of a tender mother, of the respectable family of Meriwethers of the same county; and was remarkable even in infancy for enterprise, boldness & discretion. when only eight years of age, he habitually went out, in the dead of night, 17 alone with his dogs, into the forest to hunt the raccoon & opossum, 18 which, seeking their food in the night, can then only be taken. in this exercise, no season or circumstance could obstruct his purpose, plunging thro’ the winter’s snows and frozen streams, in pursuit of his object. at thirteen he was put to the Latin school, and continued at 19 that until eighteen, when he returned to his mother, and entered on the cares of his farm, having, as well as a younger brother, 20 been left by his father with a competency for all the correct and comfortable 21 purposes of temperate life. his talent for observation, which had led him to an accurate knoledge of the plants & animals of his own country, would have distinguished him as a farmer; but at the age of twenty, yielding to the ardor of youth, & a passion for more dazzling pursuits, he engaged as a volunteer in the body of militia which were called out by Gen l Washington on occasion of the discontents produced by the Excise-taxes in the Western parts of the United States; and from that situation he was removed to the regular service as a lieutenant in the line. at twenty three he was promoted to a Captaincy; and, always attracting the first attention, where punctuality & fidelity were requisite, he was appointed paymaster to his regiment. about this time a circumstance occurred which, leading to the transaction which is the subject of this book, 22 will justify a recurrence to it’s original idea. while I resided in Paris, John Ledyard of Connecticut arrived there, well known in the United States for energy of body & mind. he had accompanied Capt n Cook on his voyage to the Pacific ocean, and distinguished himself on that voyage by his intrepidity. being of a roaming disposition, he was now panting for some new enterprize. 23 his immediate object at Paris was to engage a mercantile 24 company in the fur-trade of the Western coast of America, in which however he failed. I then proposed to him to go by land to Kamschatka, cross in some of the Russian vessels to Nootka sound, fall down into the latitude of the Missouri, and penetrate to, and 25 thro’, that, to the United States. he eagerly siesed the idea, & only asked to be assured of the permission of the Russian government. I interested, in obtaining 26 that, M. de Simoulin M.P. of the Empress at Paris, but more especially the Baron de Grimm, M.P. of Saxe-Gotha, her more special agent, & correspondent there, in matters not immediately diplomatic. 27 her permission was obtained, & an assurance of protection, while the course of the voyage should be thro’ her territories. Ledyard set out from Paris, & arrived at S t Petersburg after the Empress had left that place, to pass the winter, I think, at Moscow. his finances not permitting him to make unnecessary 28 stay at S t Petersburg, he left it with a passport from one of the ministers; and, at 200. miles from Kamschatka, was obliged to take up his winter quarters. he was preparing, in the spring, to resume his journey, when he was arrested by an officer of the Empress, who by this time 29 had changed her mind, and forbidden his proceeding. he was put into a close 30 -carriage, & conveyed day & night, without ever stopping, till they reached Poland, where he was set down, & left to himself. the fatigue of this journey broke down his constitution, and when he returned to Paris, his bodily strength was much impaired. 31 his mind however remained firm, & he after this undertook the journey to Egypt. I recieved a letter from him, full of sanguine hopes, dated at Cairo, the 15 th of Nov. 1788. the day before he was to set out for the head of the Nile, on which day however he 32 ended his career and life. and thus failed the first attempt to explore the Western part of 33 our Northern continent. In 1792. I proposed to the American Philosophical Society that we should set on foot a subscription to engage some competent person to explore that region in the opposite direction, that is, by ascending the Missouri, crossing the Stony mountains , and descending the nearest river to the Pacific. Cap t Lewis being then stationed at Charlottesville, on the recruiting service, warmly sollicited me to obtain for him the execution of that object. I told him it was proposed that the person engaged should be attended by a single companion only, to avoid exciting alarm among the Indians. this did not deter him. but mr André Michaux, a professed botanist, author of the Flora Boreali-Americana , and of the Histoire des chesnes d’Amerique , offering his services, they were accepted. he recieved his instructions, and when he had reached Kentucky in the prosecution of his journey, he was overtaken by 34 an order from the Minister of France, then at Philadelphia, to relinquish the expedition, and to pursue elsewhere the Botanical enquiries on which he was employed by that government. and thus failed the 2 d attempt for exploring that region. 35 In 1803. the act for establishing trading houses with the Indian tribes being about to expire, some modifications of it were recommended to Congress by a confidential message of Jan. 18. and an extension of it’s views to the Indians on the Missouri. in order to prepare the way, the Message proposed the sending an exploring party to trace the Missouri to it’s source, to cross the Highlands, and follow the best water-communication which offered itself from thence to the Pacific ocean. Congress approved the proposition, and voted a sum of money for carrying it into execution. Cap t Lewis, who had then been near two years with me as private Secretary, immediately renewed his sollicitations to have the direction of the party. I had now had opportunities of knowing him intimately. of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness & perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from it’s direction, careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order & discipline, intimate with the Indian character, customs & principles, habituated to the hunting life, guarded, 36 by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing time in the description of objects already possesd , honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves; with all these qualifications, as if selected & implanted by nature in one body, for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprize to him. to fill up the measure desired, he wanted nothing but a greater familiarity with the technical language of the natural sciences, and readiness in the Astronomical observations necessary for the geography of his route. to acquire these he repaired immediately to Philadelphia, and placed himself under the tutorage of the distinguished Professors of that place, who with a zeal & emulation, enkindled by an ardent devotion to science, communicated to him freely the information requisite for the purposes of the journey. while attending too, at Lancaster, the fabrication of the arms with which he chose that his men should be provided, he had the benefit of daily communication with mr Andrew Ellicot, whose experience in Astronomical observation, and practice of it in the woods, enabled him to apprise Cap t Lewis of the wants & difficulties he would encounter, and of the substitutes & resources offered by a woodland and uninhabited country. Deeming it necessary he should have some person with him, of known competence to the direction of the enterprise, in the event of accident to himself, he proposed William Clarke, brother of General George Rogers Clarke, who was approved, and, with that view recieved a commission of Captain. 37 In April 1803. a draught of his instructions was sent to Cap t Lewis, and on the 20 th of June they were signed in the following form. 38 [ TJ’s instructions to Meriwether Lewis, drafted in April 1803 and signed on 20 June of that year, are printed as part of a grouping of documents at 13 Apr. 1803 in PTJ description begins Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, and others, eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , 1950– , 34 vols. description ends , 40:176–83. The copy that TJ incorporated into his biography of Lewis in 1813 is accordingly omitted here. ] While these things were going on here, the country of Louisiana, lately ceded by Spain to France, had been the subject of negociation at Paris between us and this last power; and had actually been transferred to us by treaties executed at Paris, on the 39 30 th of April. this information, recieved about the 1 st day of July, increased infinitely the interest we felt 40 in the expedition, & lessened the apprehensions of interruption from other powers. every thing in this quarter being now prepared, Cap t Lewis left Washington on the 5 th of July 1803. and proceeded to Pittsburg, where other articles had been ordered to be provided for him. the men too were to be selected from the military stations on the Ohio. delays of preparation, difficulties of navigation down the Ohio, 41 & other untoward obstructions, retarded 42 his arrival at Cahokia until the season was so far advanced as to render it prudent to suspend his entering the Missouri before the ice should break up in the succeeding spring. From this time his journal, now published, will give the history of his journey to and from the Pacific ocean, until his return to S t Louis on the 23 d of Sep. 1806. never did a similar event excite more joy thro’ the United States. the humblest of it’s citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue of this journey, & looked forward with impatience for the information it would furnish—their anxieties too for the safety of the corps had been kept in a state of excitement by lugubrious rumors, circulated from time to time, on uncertain authorities, and uncontradicted by 43 letters, or other direct information from the time they had left the Mandan towns, on their ascent up the river, in April of the preceding year 1805. until their actual return to S t Louis. It was the middle of Feb. 1807. before Cap t Lewis, with his companion Clarke, reached the city of Washington, where Congress was then in session. that body granted to the two Chiefs and their followers the donation of lands which they had been encoraged to expect 44 in reward of their toil & dangers. Cap t Lewis was soon after appointed Governor of Louisiana, and Cap t Clarke a General of it’s militia, and Agent of the US. for Indian affairs in that department. A considerable time intervened before the Governor’s arrival at S t Louis. he found the territory distracted by feuds & contentions among the officers of the government, & the people themselves divided by these into factions & parties. he determined at once to take no side with either; but to use every endeavor to conciliate and harmonise them. the even-handed justice he administered 45 to all soon established a respect for his person & authority; and perseverance and time wore down animosities, & reunited the citizens again into one family. Governor Lewis had, from early life, been subject to hypocondriac affections. it was a constitutional disposition in all the nearer branches of the family of his name, and was more immediately inherited by him from his father. they had not however been so strong as to give uneasiness to his family. while he lived with me in Washington, I observed at times sensible depressions of mind; but knowing their constitutional source, I estimated their course by what I had seen in the family. during his Western expedition 46 the constant exertion, which that required, of all the faculties of body & mind, suspended 47 these distressing affections; but after his establishment at S t Louis in sedentary occupations, they returned upon him with redoubled vigor, & began seriously to alarm his friends. he was in a paroxysm of one of these, when his affairs rendered it necessary for him to go to Washington. he proceeded to the Chickasaw bluffs, where he arrived on the 16 th of Sep. 1809. with a view of continuing his journey thence by water. mr Neely, agent of the US. with the Chickasaw Indians, arriving there two days after, found him extremely indisposed, 48 and betraying, at times, some symptoms of a derangement of mind. the rumors of a war with England, & apprehensions that he might lose the papers he was bringing on, among which were the vouchers of his public accounts, & the journals & papers of his Western expedition, induced him here to change his mind, and to take his course by land thro’ the Chickasaw country. altho’ he appeared somewhat relieved, mr Neely kindly 49 determined to accompany & watch over him. unfortunately, at their encampment, after having passed the Tennisee one day’s journey, 50 they lost two horses; which obliging mr Neely to halt for their recovery, the Governor proceeded, under a promise to wait for him at the house of the first white inhabitant on his road. he stopped at the house of a mr Grinder, who not being at home, his wife, alarmed at the symptoms of derangement she discovered, gave him up the house, & retired to rest herself in an outhouse, the Governor’s and Neely’s servants lodging in another. about three aclock in the night, he did the deed which plunged his friends into affliction, and deprived his country 51 of one of her most valued citizens, 52 whose valour and intelligence would have been now employed in avenging the wrongs of his country, and in emulating by land the splendid deeds which have honored her arms on the ocean. it lost too to the nation 53 the benefit of recieving from his own hand the Narrative now offered 54 them of his sufferings & successes, in endeavoring to extend for them the boundaries of science, and to present to their knolege that vast & fertile country, which their sons 55 are destined to fill with arts, with science, with freedom & happiness. 56 To this melancholy close of the life of one, whom posterity will declare not to have lived in vain, I have only to add that all the facts I have stated are either known to myself, or communicated by his family or others, 57 for whose truth I have no hesitation to make myself responsible; and I conclude with tendering you the assurances of my respect & consideration. Th: Jefferson RC (Andalusia Foundation, Andalusia, Pa.; photocopy in DNT ); at foot of text: “M r Paul Allen. Philadelphia.” Dft ( DLC ). Enclosed in TJ to Allen and TJ to Nicholas Biddle , both 20 Aug. 1813. Printed in Biddle, Lewis and Clark Expedition , 1:vii–xxiii. Parts of the second paragraph of this letter draw on the Unidentified Author’s Short Biography of Meriwether Lewis , document no. II below. m.p. : minister plenipotentiary. stony mountains : Rocky Mountains. The distinguished professors of Philadelphia who instructed Lewis in science included Benjamin Smith Barton, Robert Patterson, Benjamin Rush, and Caspar Wistar ( Jackson, Letters of Lewis and Clark description begins Donald Jackson, ed., Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents, 1783–1854 , 2d ed., 1978, 2 vols. description ends , 1:16–9, 21, 51–2). Under the 3 Mar. 1807 “Act making compensation to Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, and their companions,” the two chiefs of the expedition each received land warrants for 1,600 acres, while their compatriots got 320 acres apiece. In addition, everyone was awarded double pay ( U.S. Statutes at Large description begins Richard Peters, ed., The Public Statutes at Large of the United States … 1789 to March 3, 1845 , 1845–67, 8 vols. description ends , 6:65–6). 1 . In Dft TJ here canceled “collect.” 2 . Preceding five words interlined in Dft in place of “according to your better judgment.” 3 . In Dft TJ added text to this point, including dateline and salutation, in left margin. 4 . Preceding four words interlined in Dft . 5 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “first.” 6 . In Dft TJ here canceled “bondage.” 7 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “betraying.” 8 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “made.” 9 . Preceding three words interlined in Dft in place of “known.” 10 . In Dft TJ here canceled “entering on.” 11 . Preceding two words interlined in Dft in place of “those elements.” 12 . Preceding three words interlined in Dft in place of “so humanely bestowed.” 13 . Reworked in Dft from “remarkably distinguished by a severe.” 14 . In Dft TJ here canceled “universal.” 15 . Reworked in Dft from “a very tender age.” 16 . Preceding three words interlined in Dft in place of “in the.” 17 . Preceding five words interlined in Dft . 18 . Preceding four words added in margin of Dft in place of “these animals.” 19 . Preceding two words interlined in Dft in place of “engaged in.” 20 . Preceding six words added in margin of Dft . 21 . Preceding two words added in margin of Dft . 22 . Preceding eight words interlined in Dft in place of “most remarkable transaction of his life.” 23 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “expedition.” 24 . Word interlined in Dft . 25 . Preceding two words interlined in Dft . 26 . Word interlined in Dft . 27 . In Dft TJ here canceled “she not only permitted.” 28 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “any.” 29 . In Dft TJ here canceled “from the caprice or wim.” 30 . Word interlined in Dft . 31 . Preceding three words interlined in Dft in place of “appeared gone.” 32 . Preceding five words interlined in Dft . 33 . Preceding four words interlined in Dft . 34 . Preceding three words interlined in Dft in place of “recieved.” 35 . In Dft TJ here canceled “when in 1803. Louisiana was < acquired > ceded to the US. a knolege of the Missouri was no longer an object of mere geographical curiosity, but was become highly interesting to the nation, all the country covered by the waters running into the Misipi constituting the extent of their new acquisition in the upper country. Cap t Lewis was now become my private Secretary, and on the first mention of the subject he renewed his sollicitations to be the person employed. my knolege of him, now become more intimate, left no hestitation on my part. I had now had opportunities of knowing his character intimately.” 36 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “familiarized.” 37 . Paragraph interlined in place of “It being deemed necessary also to provide an associate properly qualified to succeed to the direction of the enterprise in the event of accident to Cap t Lewis, he proposed Cap t William Clarke of Ohio, brother to Gen l George Rogers Clarke, who was approved without hesitation.” In Dft TJ first interlined and added in the margin the earlier version, then canceled it and replaced it in the margin with the later rendition. 38 . Sentence interlined in Dft in place of “In June 1813. the following instructions were given him.” In Dft TJ added “here insert the instructions verbatim,” with the instructions there inserted by him being the original Dft ( DLC : TJ Papers , 199:35393–4). 39 . In Dft TJ here canceled “1 st day of May.” 40 . Reworked in Dft from “our interest.” 41 . Preceding three words interlined in Dft . 42 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “prevented.” 43 . In Dft TJ here canceled “any.” 44 . Preceding three words interlined in Dft in place of “promised.” 45 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “dealt out.” 46 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “enterprize.” 47 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “exempted him from.” 48 . Reworked in Dft from “in extremely ill health.” 49 . Word interlined in Dft . 50 . Reworked in Dft from “a day’s journey on this side of the Tenissee.” 51 . Remainder of Dft written perpendicularly in right margin. 52 . In Dft TJ here canceled “who, if now living, would.” 53 . Preceding six words interlined in Dft in place of “and lost to the world.” 54 . Word interlined in Dft in place of “presented.” 55 . Preceding two words interlined in Dft in place of “they.” 56 . Remainder of Dft added in a different ink. 57 . Preceding two words interlined in Dft . Index Entries Allen, Paul; and N. Biddle’s history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition search Allen, Paul; letters to search American Philosophical Society; and A. Michaux’s western exploration search Barton, Benjamin Smith; and instruction of M. Lewis search books; on Lewis and Clark Expedition search Cherokee Indians; militia expedition against search Chickasaw Indians; lands of search Chickasaw Indians; U.S. Indian agent for search Clark (Clarke), George Rogers; mentioned search Clark (Clarke), William; and journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition search Clark (Clarke), William; and Lewis and Clark Expedition search Clark (Clarke), William; land warrant granted to search Cook, James; J. Ledyard accompanies search Ellicott, Andrew (1754–1820); astronomical observations of search Flora Boreali-Americana (Michaux) search Grimm, Friedrich Melchior, Baron von; and J. Ledyard mission search Grinder, Mrs. Robert search Grinder, Robert search Histoire des Chênes de l’Amerique (Michaux) search Indians; Cherokee search Indians; Chickasaw search Jefferson, Thomas; Writings; Biography of Meriwether Lewis search Ledyard, John (of Connecticut); and western exploration search Lewis, Charles (Meriwether Lewis’s uncle) search Lewis, Fielding (Meriwether Lewis’s granduncle) search Lewis, John (Meriwether Lewis’s granduncle) search Lewis, Meriwether; and J. Neelly search Lewis, Meriwether; as hunter search Lewis, Meriwether; as TJ’s private secretary search Lewis, Meriwether; death of search Lewis, Meriwether; education of search Lewis, Meriwether; family of search Lewis, Meriwether; health of search Lewis, Meriwether; land warrant granted to search Lewis, Meriwether; Lewis and Clark Expedition search Lewis, Meriwether; military career of search Lewis, Meriwether; prepares for Lewis and Clark Expedition search Lewis, Meriwether; TJ’s biography of search Lewis, Meriwether; TJ’s instructions for Lewis and Clark Expedition to search Lewis, Nicholas; as M. Lewis’s guardian search Lewis, Robert (Meriwether Lewis’s grandfather) search Lewis, William (Meriwether Lewis’s father) search Lewis and Clark Expedition; route of search Mandan Indians search Michaux, André; Flora Boreali-Americana search Michaux, François André; and western exploration search Michaux, François André; Histoire des Chênes de l’Amerique search Neelly, James; and M. Lewis’s death search Patterson, Robert; and instruction of M. Lewis search Rush, Benjamin; and instruction of M. Lewis search Simolin, Ivan M.; and J. Ledyard expedition search Washington, George; mentioned search Whiskey Rebellion search Wistar, Caspar; and instruction of M. Lewis search Permanent Link What’s this? https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0002 Note: The annotations to this document, and any other modern editorial content, are copyright © Princeton University Press. All rights reserved. Back to top You Are Looking At Source Project Jefferson Papers Title Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen, 18 August 1813 Author Jefferson, Thomas Recipient Allen, Paul Date 18 August 1813 Ancestor groups Biography of Meriwether Lewis Reference Cite as “Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen, 18 August 1813,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0002. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 6, 11 March to 27 November 1813 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, pp. 418–426.] More between these correspondents Preceding From Jefferson to Allen [5 August 1813] Next From Allen to Jefferson [18 August 1813] All All correspondence between Jefferson and Allen ==== EDITORIAL NOTE (separate Founders Online page, id Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0001) ==== CITATION: “Editorial Note,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0001. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 6, 11 March to 27 November 1813 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, pp. 417–418.] URL (original): https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0001 URL (fetched, Wayback Machine capture): https://web.archive.org/web/2024/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0001 DATE FETCHED: 2026-09-14 TRANSCRIPTION: scholarly edition text (Princeton, Papers of Thomas Jefferson / Madison Papers, as published on Founders Online); text below is verbatim from the fetched page, including the editors' source note and footnotes. Superscripts are flattened by the HTML-to-text conversion (e.g. 'Oct r' = Oct^r, '11 th' = 11^th). ---- VERBATIM TEXT (Founders Online page) ---- Editorial Note Editorial Note Thomas Jefferson had long advocated sending an American-sponsored expedition to explore the region between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. Although frustrated by the inability of George Rogers Clark in 1783–84, John Ledyard in 1788, and André Michaux in 1793 to fulfill this mission, Jefferson finally saw his dream become a reality with the dispatch in 1804 and safe return two years later of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery. The trip itself proved to be only half the battle, however. From almost the moment of their return, Jefferson hoped and expected that an authorized version of Lewis’s detailed journals would soon be published. In this he was to be greatly disappointed. Lewis contracted in 1807 with the Philadelphia firm of C. & A. Conrad & Company to have the work printed, but he never submitted a manuscript and, in consequence, nothing was accomplished prior to his suicide in 1809. After Jefferson helped facilitate the conveyance of the orphaned documentation to Washington, D.C., Lewis’s former colleague and current executor William Clark took up the task of transporting it to Philadelphia and finding an editor. He eventually chose Nicholas Biddle, an intelligent young man who proved well-suited to the task. The outbreak of the War of 1812 and collapse of Conrad & Company in that same year delayed publication, but with the assistance of Paul Allen and a new publisher, Bradford & Inskeep of Philadelphia (aided by Abraham H. Inskeep of New York), the work was issued in two volumes in 1814 as a History of the Expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the Sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed during the years 1804–5–6. By order of the Government of the United States . For the next ninety years it would remain the only printed account based on Lewis’s journals. Jefferson’s letter to Allen of 18 Aug. 1813, which he had originally composed as a stand-alone biographical essay, was placed just after the preface to the first volume of the work and entitled the “Life of Captain Lewis.” It has been cited and quoted on numerous occasions by historians, most often as evidence of Jefferson’s high regard for Lewis’s abilities and of the “depressions of mind” that beset the famed explorer throughout his adulthood. Indeed, the widespread unwillingness to lend credence to the possibility that Lewis might have been murdered is at least in part attributable to Jefferson’s interpretation of Lewis’s mental condition as unstable, both earlier and at the time of his death. Though saddened, Jefferson was clearly not surprised by reports that Lewis had died by his own hand, and the scholarly community has, by and large, followed suit ( PTJ , 6:371, 13:382, 25:624–6; Jackson, Letters of Lewis and Clark , 2:392–7, 494–6; John Brahan to TJ and James Neelly to TJ, both 18 Oct. 1809; C. & A. Conrad & Company to TJ, 13 Nov. 1809 ; TJ to James Madison, 26 Nov. 1809 ; TJ to Bernard McMahon, 13 Jan. 1810 ; Vardis Fisher, Suicide or Murder? The Strange Death of Governor Meriwether Lewis [1962], esp. 179–82; Stephen E. Ambrose, Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West [1996], esp. 476–81; James P. Ronda, Jefferson’s West: A Journey with Lewis and Clark [2000]). Index Entries Allen, Paul; and N. Biddle’s history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition search Biddle, Nicholas; and history of Lewis and Clark Expedition search Biddle, Nicholas; History of the Expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark search books; on Lewis and Clark Expedition search Bradford & Inskeep (Philadelphia firm); and history of Lewis and Clark Expedition search Clark (Clarke), George Rogers; and western exploration search Clark (Clarke), William; and journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition search Clark (Clarke), William; as M. Lewis’s executor search Conrad, C. & A., and Company (Philadelphia firm); and journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition search History of the Expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark (N. Biddle) search Inskeep, Abraham H. search Jefferson, Thomas; Writings; Biography of Meriwether Lewis search Ledyard, John (of Connecticut); and western exploration search Lewis, Meriwether; and publication of journals search Lewis, Meriwether; Lewis and Clark Expedition search Lewis, Meriwether; TJ on search Lewis and Clark Expedition; history of search Michaux, François André; and western exploration search Permanent Link What’s this? https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0001 Note: The annotations to this document, and any other modern editorial content, are copyright © Princeton University Press. All rights reserved. Back to top You Are Looking At Source Project Jefferson Papers Title Editorial Note Ancestor groups Biography of Meriwether Lewis Reference Cite as “Editorial Note,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0341-0001. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , Retirement Series, vol. 6, 11 March to 27 November 1813 , ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, pp. 417–418.]