TERMS OF THE COMMISSION
Mr. Jefferson's instructions to the young officer showed his own
farsighted earnestness. Had he who received them been any less in
earnest, the task assigned to him must have seemed appalling. The
primary instruction was to blaze a path, more than four thousand miles
long, through an unstudied wilderness. It was conceived that this could
best be done by following the Missouri to its head waters, crossing
"the Highlands" to the navigable waters of the Columbia, and going down
that river to the Pacific; but this was only conjectural. The map in
the hands of the explorers, the only basis for a preliminary outline of
their route, was drawn partly from hearsay, partly from imagination; it
showed the source of the Missouri to be somewhere in Central
California; it showed nothing of the mighty barrier of the Rocky
Mountains. There was one thin, uncertain line of hills, far to the
west, that might have been the Sierra Nevadas; further than that there
was nothing but a broad interior plain, seamed with rivers. Practically
nothing was known of the difficulties that would be encountered. White
men had ventured for a little way up the Missouri in earlier years, to
carry on a desultory fur-trade with the Indians; but these traders had
been mostly happy-go-lucky Frenchmen, who had taken but little thought
for the morrow. They had no trustworthy information to give that would
be of service to scientific travelers. So far as sure knowledge of it
was concerned, the land was virgin, and Lewis and Clark were to be its
discoverers.
They were directed to explore it in detail. Observations of latitude
and longitude were to be made at all points of particular interest. The
native nations and tribes encountered along the way were to be studied
with care, and record preserved of their names and numbers; the extent
and boundaries of their possessions; their relations with other tribes
and nations; their language, traditions, and monuments; their
occupations, implements, food, clothing, and domestic accommodations;
their diseases and methods of cure; their physical, social, moral, and
religious peculiarities and customs; their ideas and practice of
commerce, and the possibility of extending among them the influences of
civilization,--in short, every circumstance was to be noted which might
render future relations with these people intelligent. Particular
attention was to be given to the state of feeling toward the whites, in
those tribes which had had experience with the traders. Should the
expedition succeed in reaching the Pacific, the conditions of trade
upon the coast were to form a subject of special inquiry. Along the
route full observations were directed to be made concerning the face of
the country,--the contour of the land; the character and course of
streams, their suitability as avenues of commerce, and the means of
communication between them; and also the points best adapted to the
establishment of trading-stations and fortifications. The conditions of
agricultural development were to be noted as fully as might be,--soil,
water-supply, climate, and change of seasons; and also the natural
resources of the country, vegetable, animal, and mineral. Nothing was
to be neglected, knowledge of which might contribute to the success or
security of later enterprise.
"In all your intercourse with the natives," wrote Mr. Jefferson, "treat
them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner which their own
conduct will admit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your
journey; satisfy them of its innocence; make them acquainted with the
position, extent, character, peaceable and commercial dispositions of
the United States; of our wish to be neighborly, friendly, and useful
to them, and of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them;
confer with them on the points most convenient as mutual emporiums, and
the articles of most desirable interchange for them and us. If a few of
their influential chiefs, within practicable distance, wish to visit
us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them with authority to
call on our officers, on their entering the United States, to have them
conveyed to this place at the public expense. If any of them should
wish to have some of their people brought up with us, and taught such
arts as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct, and take care
of them."
As it could not be foreseen in what manner the travelers would be
received by the Indians, whether with hospitality or hostility, Captain
Lewis was told to use his own discretion as to persevering with the
enterprise in the face of opposition; and he was also told that should
he succeed in getting through to the Pacific, he might choose his own
means for getting back again,--shipping by way of Cape Horn or the Cape
of Good Hope, if chance offered; or, in the absence of such
opportunity, returning overland. A precious liberty, truly, when read
in the light of the facts! The instructions concluded with this frank
paragraph:--
"As you will be without money, clothes, or provisions, you must
endeavor to use the credit of the United States to obtain them; for
which purpose open letters of credit shall be furnished you,
authorizing you to draw on the executive of the United States, or any
of its officers, in any part of the world in which drafts can be
disposed of, and to apply with our recommendations to the consuls,
agents, merchants, or citizens of any nation with which we have
intercourse, assuring them in our name that any aids they may furnish
you shall be honorably repaid, and on demand."
As events transpired, that paragraph was almost ironical. A letter of
credit directed to the Man in the Moon would have served quite as well.
The two redoubtable captains were to be soldiers, sailors, explorers,
geographers, ethnologists, botanists, geologists, chemists, diplomats,
missionaries, financiers, and historians; also cooks, tailors,
shoemakers, hunters, trappers, fishermen, scouts, woodcutters,
boatbuilders, carpenters, priests, and doctors. From the time they left
St. Louis, in May, 1804, until they returned to that place, in
September, 1806, the men were cut off from civilization and all its
aids, and left to work out their own salvation. Not for one moment were
they dismayed; not in a single particular did they fail to accomplish
what had been assigned to them.
The congressional appropriation for the purposes of the expedition was
based upon an estimate made by Captain Lewis himself, which is so
refreshing as to deserve literal quotation:--
_Recapitulation of an estimate of the sum necessary to carry
into effect the Miss^ie Expedition_
Mathematical Instruments $ 217
Arms and accoutrements extraordinary 81
Camp Ecquipage 255
Medicine and packing 55
Means of transportation 430
Indian presents 696
Provisions extraordinary 224
Materials for making up the various articles
into portable packs 55
For the pay of hunters, guides and interpreters 300
In silver coin, to defray the expences of
the party from Nashville to the last
white settlement on the Missisourie 100
Contingencies 87
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Total $2500
Eighty-seven dollars for the contingencies of a twenty-eight months'
journey of discovery, more than eight thousand miles in length, with a
company of forty-five men, and through a land literally unknown!
Captain Lewis set out from Washington in July, 1803, and was joined by
Captain Clark at Louisville, whence they proceeded to the rendezvous on
the Mississippi, near St. Louis. They intended to embark upon their
course in the autumn; but several delays occurred, of one sort and
another, and the party was not assembled until December. The officers
wished to establish winter quarters at the last white settlement on the
Missouri, a few miles above St. Louis; but the Spanish governor of the
territory had not yet learned of the change in ownership, and would not
suffer them to proceed. This compelled them to remain in the lower camp
until spring. The winter months were not lost, however; they were
passed in drilling and instructing the men in the details of the work
before them, thus greatly increasing their efficiency and no doubt
obviating delays at later times.