THE EXPEDITION
For almost twenty years prior to the organization of the Lewis and
Clark expedition, and long before the general public was more than
passively curious upon the subject of Louisiana, Jefferson had
nourished the plan for exploring the Louisiana Territory. In the memoir
above referred to, he wrote:--
"While I resided in Paris, John Ledyard, of Connecticut, arrived there,
well known in the United States for energy of body and mind. He had
accompanied Captain 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 enterprise. His
immediate object at Paris was to engage a mercantile 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 Kamchatka, cross in some of the
Russian vessels to Nootka Sound, fall down into the latitude of the
Missouri, and penetrate to and through that to the United States. He
eagerly seized the idea, and only asked to be assured of the permission
of the Russian government."
The consent of the Empress of Russia was obtained, together with an
assurance of protection while the course of travel lay across her
territory; and Ledyard set out. While he was yet two hundred miles from
Kamchatka, winter overtook him, and there he was forced to remain
through many months. In the spring, as he was preparing to go on, he
was put under arrest. The Empress, exercising the inalienable right of
sovereign womanhood, had changed her mind. The reason for this change
is not apparent. There may have been no reason more potent than
international jealousy, which was lively in those days. At any rate,
Ledyard was put into a close carriage and conveyed to Poland, traveling
day and night, without once stopping. He was left in Poland penniless
and broken in body and spirit, and soon afterward died.
Later, in 1792, Jefferson proposed to the American Philosophical
Society that a subscription be raised to engage some one to ascend the
Missouri, cross the mountains, and descend to the Pacific. In order to
preclude alarm to the Indians or to other nations, it was intended that
this expedition should consist of only two persons. Meriwether Lewis,
then eighteen years of age, begged to have this commission, and it was
given him. His one companion was to be a French botanist, Andre
Michaux. The journey was actually begun, when it was discovered that
Michaux was residing in the United States in the capacity of a spy.
Once again the plan was deferred.
"In 1803," wrote Mr. Jefferson, "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 January
18th, and an extension of its views to the Indians of the Missouri. In
order to prepare the way, the message proposed the sending an exploring
party to trace the Missouri to its 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. Captain Lewis, who had then
been near two years with me as private secretary, immediately renewed
his solicitations to have the direction of the party."
Naturally, Mr. Jefferson was strongly inclined to intrust this work to
his friend Lewis. Their official and private relations had been
intimate; Mr. Jefferson had had ample opportunities for testing the
fibre of the young man's character under strain; besides, Lewis's
confidential position had no doubt made him acquainted with the inner
details of the plan, its broader significance, and the political
obstacles to be overcome in carrying it into effect. Aside from his
temperamental disposition for such an enterprise, his public service
had strengthened his grasp of national interests; enthusiasm for
adventure had been supplemented by maturity of judgment in affairs of
state. Altogether, a better man for the place could not have been
found.
To carry out the work of the organized expedition would consist largely
in surmounting physical difficulties; but to organize it and get it
fairly started demanded considerable delicacy of diplomatic
contrivance. The life of the nation, as it sought to expand and take
form, was beset and harassed, north, south, and west, by international
complications growing out of direct contact with unfriendly neighbors.
In that day the United States did not sustain cordial relations with
any of the strong nations of the world. The internal machinery of the
new government was not yet in perfect adjustment; domestic crises were
constantly recurring; permanence of democratic forms and methods was
not by any means assured; the country had not established an
indisputable right to be reckoned with in matters of international
concern. Russia alone, of all the powers, was considered as friendly.
Even in that case, however, there was nothing warmer than watchful
neutrality. Russian and American interests had not yet conflicted.
The British, through the strong trading companies of Canada, were hot
for getting control of the Indian traffic of the Northwest--indeed,
their prestige was already quite firmly fixed, and they were on their
guard against any semblance of encroachment upon that domain of
activity. This condition, coupled with other and acuter differences,
made it highly probable that England would not take kindly to the
expedition, should its object be openly avowed.
Spanish opposition would be even stronger. Spain had but lately
surrendered possession of the Louisiana Territory, whence her agents
had for a long time derived large revenues from the Indian trade, after
the age-long manner she has pursued in dealing with her colonies and
dependencies. Spain still held the Floridas, practically controlling
the commerce of the Gulf and the navigation of the Mississippi; so
that, while the people of the United States asserted the right of depot
at New Orleans and the further right of passage of the river throughout
its length, their enjoyment of these rights was precarious. Further,
though the crown had transferred the territory west of the Mississippi,
its subjects had not quit their efforts for supremacy in trade; their
influence long outlived the extinction of territorial rights. Bitterly
hostile to the growth of American ideas, they would certainly do what
they could to oppose the expedition.
It was with France, however, that our government had to deal directly.
In 1800 Napoleon had acquired title to Louisiana, trading with Spain,
giving in exchange the little kingdom of Etruria. But his control of
the territory was more tacit than actual; he was so busily engaged at
home that he found no time to reduce his property to possession; his
dominion west of the Mississippi was never more than potential. War
between France and England was imminent. Napoleon had in America no
adequate means for defending his new domain, which would therefore be
likely to fall into the hands of the British at once upon the outbreak
of war. He was growing anxious to be rid of the load. Jefferson thought
it probable that the territory would one day belong to the United
States,--indeed, negotiations were pending for the transfer when the
"confidential communication" to Congress was written, in January, 1803.
Although the outcome was still problematical, Jefferson considered that
the proper time for discovering what the land held; and this was the
primary purpose of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
For all of these reasons, and more, it was deemed necessary to cover
from general view the real character of the enterprise. The
appropriation by Congress was made for the ostensible and innocent
purpose of "extending the external commerce of the United States." In
his letter to Congress, which was for a long time kept secret, Mr.
Jefferson said that France would regard this as in the nature of a
"literary pursuit," and that whatever distrust she might feel would be
allayed. But, though his ulterior purposes were sought to be concealed,
the powers of France no doubt knew well enough what was in the wind.
It was on June 30, 1803, that Jefferson gave to Captain Lewis detailed
instructions for the conduct of his work. In the meantime (on April
30th), treaties had been signed at Paris, ceding Louisiana to the
United States. That was a distinct triumph for American statecraft. On
the one hand were ranged Napoleon, Talleyrand, and Marbois; on the
other, Jefferson, Livingston, and Monroe. The French were at a
disadvantage; their position was that of holding perishable goods,
which must be sold to avoid catastrophe. Napoleon said, not without
reason, that the government of the United States availed itself of his
distress incident to the impending struggle with England. However that
may be, the territory changed owners for a consideration of
$15,000,000.
Formal notification of the transfer was not received in Washington
until the early part of July, when active preparations for the
exploration were being made. Its receipt did not alter the character of
the expedition, though many of the international complications were
dissipated. Thereafter the work was purely domestic in most of its
aspects.