Lewis & Clark - Partners In Discovery

Clark PARTNERS IN DISCOVERY BY JOHN B4KELESS NEW YORK, 1947 WILLIAM MORROW b COMPANY Published, November, 1947 Second Printing, January, 1948 Copyright, 194, by John Bakeless. Printed in the United States of America. Published simultaneously in the Dominion of Can ada by McClelland A-Stewart Limited, Toronto. to Bellamy Partridge Preface H riSTORY offers lew opportunities for a joint biography of this sort, in which two mens lives are so closely linked that they can be told as one. Beaumont and Fletcher and the Brothers Goncourt are perhaps the only other examples. The fame which resulted from the Lewis and Clark expedition was so great that it has overshadowed their other achievements and has overshad owed also the length and intimacy of their friendship. It is, therefore, necessary to emphasize the fact that this book is a biography of the two explorers, not merely the story of their explorations, however large the story of the expedition may bulk in any account of their careers. Completion of this study has been much delayed by nearly six years of active duty in the second World War. Prelimi nary research, begun in 1939, was carried forward steadily until Pearl Harbor, after which the pressure of general staff duties became so great that it had to be laid aside entirely. On my return to reserve status early in 1946, I was enabled to devote my entire time to the book through the grant of a post-service Guggenheim Fellowship, which by a curious co incidence exactly equalled the Congressional grant for equip ping the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Fortunately, a field trip as far as Nebraska in 1949 had already enabled me to see most of the important original documents. In February, 1946, I visited Virginia and Tennessee to consult local archives and in the winter of 1946-1947 I completed my study of the Lewis and Clark trail and of material contained in private collections and local archives from Pennsylvania to Oregon. Though the book contains an immense amount of hitherto unknown material for example, Lewiss correspondence with the War Department, just prior to his death, and Clarks comment on hearing of the tragedy I have not attempted to mark it as such in the notes. Specialists will have no difficulty in recognizing it others will not be interested. As this is a biography rather than a study in local history and local geog raphy, I have not entered into the innumerable disputes as to the exact location of innumerable Lewis and Clark camp sites, though there is no doubt that some of them can be accurately determined. To avoid encumbering the pages with foot-notes, all docu mentation has been placed in the back of the book. For the few passages of dialogue, authority will be found there. I have not fictionized, nor have I invented conversation. In such a study, I have naturally incurred innumerable obligations for friendly aid and criticism. These are acknowl edged elsewhere. I can here express only my special obliga tions to Mr. George Libaire, who first suggested the subject to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for the grant which made the final field study possible to the publishers editorial staff, whose searching criticism vastly im proved the book and to my wife, who labored with me in the archives, typed endless notes and much of the manuscript, and motored me 18,500 miles during the course of the re search. John Bakeless Great Hill, Seymour, Conn.4 August 194 Contents 1. Mr. Jefferson needs a Secretary i 2. The Clarks and the Lewises 8 3. LL Clark fights Indians 2 4. Lt. Clark and General Wayne 34 5. Tipple tax war the Whisky Rebellion 55 6. Mr. Jefferson and his Secretary 6j 7. Mr. Jefferson buys an Empire 80 8. Lt. Clark gets a letter 4 9. The Corps of Discovery starts 113 10. A winters tale Fort Mandan 14 11. Aboriginal amours 168 12. The next leg 184 13. Grizzly bears and rattlesnakes so 14. At the Great Falls 212 15. The search for the Shoshones 226 16. Over the Great Divide 242 17...