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Wilderness Journey: The Life of William Clark PDF

343 Pages·2004·1.681 MB·English
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Wilderness Journey Missouri Biography Series William E.Foley,Editor Wilderness Journey The Life of William Clark William E. Foley University ofMissouri Press Columbia and London William Clark,portrait by Charles Willson Peale. Courtesy ofthe Independence National Historical Park. Copyright © 2004by The Curators ofthe University ofMissouri University ofMissouri Press,Columbia,Missouri 65201 Printed and bound in the United States ofAmerica All rights reserved 543210807060504 Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Foley,William E.,1938– Wilderness journey :a life ofWilliam Clark / William E.Foley. p. cm.— (Missouri biography series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8262-1533-5(alk.paper) 1. Clark,William,1770–1838. 2. Explorers—West (U.S.)—Biography. 3. Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). 4. West (U.S.)—Discovery and exploration. 5. West (U.S.)— Biography. 6. Governors—Missouri—Biography. 7. Businessmen—Missouri—Saint Louis— Biography. 8. Missouri—Biography. I. Title. II. Series. F592.7.C565F65 2004 917.804'2'092—dc22 2003027195 This paper meets the requirements ofthe American National Standard for Permanence ofPaper for Printed Library Materials,Z39.48,1984. Designer:Kristie Lee Typesetter:Crane Composition,Inc. Printer and binder:Thomson-Shore,Inc. Typefaces:Minion,Timbrel For Martha, my journey partner Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii One The West Beckons 1 Two Kentucky Apprenticeship 22 Three A Most Welcome Invitation 49 Four Westward Ho! 73 Five On to the Pacific 105 Six Homeward Bound to Blaze New Trails 134 Seven Soldier,Diplomat,and Businessman 160 Eight Mr.Governor 195 Nine The Graying ofthe Redheaded Chief 226 Epilogue 265 Notes 271 Bibliography 305 Index 317 This page intentionally left blank Preface I n the grand narrative of American progress and achievement William Clark stands proud and tall at the side ofhis friend and partner Meriwether Lewis,almost as if joined at the hip.The phrase “LewisandClark”rolls off the tongue as if it were a single word.Their daring and remarkable journey to the Pacific has become a source of national pride,and William Clark’s contribu- tions to that great odyssey have been well documented.No mere sidekick,he was the expedition’s principal cartographer,waterman,and Indian diplomat. The stalwart redhead provided a welcome and steadying presence as he and Lewis guided their tiny band through wilderness territory in search ofa practi- cable passage to the western sea,but in spite of the notoriety surrounding his renowned exploratory venture,William Clark’s story is little known. His tragic and flawed partner Meriwether Lewis and his equally tarnished brother George Rogers Clark have commanded far greater attention than the man on whom they both came to depend.In a drawing titled “Clark’s mother,” Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson captured that irony.His cartoon shows Clark’s mother with a newspaper in hand, admonishing her son: “Here it is again, William! Front page! ‘Lewis and Clark Expedition Declared a Success!’...See what I mean? His name is alwaysfirst!...I tell you,son,ifyou don’t do some- thin’about this now,you’ll be playin’second fiddle in the hist’ry books!” In truth,William Clark is not an easy person to fathom, and any effort to take his full measure must draw from the totality of experiences in a life that spanned nearly threescore and ten years.His was a long and complicated jour- ney that began in the gentrified world of Revolutionary Virginia and ended in the booming western entrepot of St.Louis nearly seven decades later.William Clark devoted the greater part of his life to public service as a soldier and as a ix

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