Meriwether Lewis Popular Books

Meriwether Lewis Biography & Facts

Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark. Their mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, establish trade with, and sovereignty over the natives near the Missouri River, and claim the Pacific Northwest and Oregon Country for the United States before European nations. They also collected scientific data, and information on indigenous nations. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him Governor of Upper Louisiana in 1806. He died of gunshot wounds in what was either a murder or suicide, in 1809. Life and work Meriwether Lewis was born August 18, 1774, on Locust Hill Plantation in Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia, in the present-day community of Ivy. He was the son of William Lewis, of Welsh ancestry, and Lucy Meriwether, of English ancestry. After his father died of pneumonia in November 1779, he moved with his mother and stepfather Captain John Marks to Georgia. They settled along the Broad River in the Goosepond Community within the Broad River Valley in Wilkes County (now Oglethorpe County). He was also the great-great-grandson of David Crawford, a prominent Virginia Burgess and militia colonel.Lewis had no formal education until he was 13 years of age, but during his time in Georgia he enhanced his skills as a hunter and an outdoorsman. He would often venture out in the middle of the night in the dead of winter with only his dog to go hunting. Even at an early age, he was interested in natural history, which would develop into a lifelong passion. His mother taught him how to gather wild herbs for medicinal purposes. In the Broad River Valley, Lewis first dealt with Native Americans. This was the traditional territory of the Cherokee, who resented encroachment by the colonists. Lewis seems to have been a champion for them among his own people. While in Georgia, he met Eric Parker, who encouraged him to travel. At age 13, Lewis was sent back to Virginia for education by private tutors. His father's older brother Nicholas Lewis became his guardian. One of his tutors was Parson Matthew Maury, an uncle of Matthew Fontaine Maury. He joined the Virginia militia, and in 1794 he was sent as part of a detachment that was involved in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion. In 1795, Lewis joined the United States Army, commissioned as an ensign—an army rank that was later abolished and was equivalent to a modern-day second lieutenant. By 1800 he rose to captain, and ended his service there in 1801. Among his commanding officers was William Clark, who would later become his companion in the Corps of Discovery. On April 1, 1801, Lewis was appointed as Secretary to the President by President Thomas Jefferson, whom he knew through Virginia society in Albemarle County. Lewis resided in the presidential mansion, and frequently conversed with various prominent figures in politics, the arts and other circles. He compiled information on the personnel and politics of the United States Army, which had seen an influx of Federalist officers as a result of "midnight appointments" made by outgoing president John Adams in 1801. Meriwether was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1802.When Jefferson began to plan for an expedition across the continent, he chose Lewis to lead the expedition. Meriwether Lewis recruited Clark, then aged 33, to share command of the expedition. Expedition west After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Thomas Jefferson wanted to get an accurate sense of the new land and its resources. The president also hoped to find a "direct and practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce with Asia". In addition, Jefferson placed special importance on declaring U.S. sovereignty over the Native Americans along the Missouri River.The two-year exploration by Lewis and Clark was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. They reached the Pacific twelve years after Sir Alexander Mackenzie did overland in Canada. When they left Fort Mandan in April 1805 they were accompanied by the 16-year-old Shoshone woman, Sacagawea, the wife of the French-Canadian fur trader, Toussaint Charbonneau. The Corps of Discovery made contact with many Native Americans in the Trans-Mississippi West and found them accustomed to dealing with European traders and already connected to global markets. After crossing the Rocky Mountains, the expedition reached the Oregon Country (which was disputed land beyond the Louisiana Purchase) and the Pacific Ocean in November 1805. They returned in 1806, bringing with them an immense amount of information about the region as well as numerous plant and animal specimens. They demonstrated the possibility of overland travel to the Pacific Coast. The success of their journey helped to strengthen the American concept of "manifest destiny" – the idea that the United States was destined to reach all the way across North America from Atlantic to Pacific. Return and gubernatorial duties After returning from the expedition, Lewis received a reward of 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) of land. He also initially made arrangements to publish the Corps of Discovery journals, but had difficulty completing his writing. In 1807, Jefferson appointed him governor of the Louisiana Territory; he settled in St. Louis. Lewis's record as an administrator is mixed. He published the first laws in the Upper Louisiana Territory, established roads and furthered Jefferson's mission as a strong proponent of the fur trade. He negotiated peace among several quarreling Indian tribes. His duty to enforce Indian treaties was to protect the western Indian lands from encroachment, which was opposed by the rush of settlers looking to open new lands for settlements. But due to his quarreling with local political leaders, controversy over his approvals of trading licenses, land grant politics, and Indian depredations, some historians have argued that Lewis was a poor administrator. That view has been reconsidered in recent biographies. Lewis's primary quarrels were with his territorial secretary Frederick Bates. Bates was accused of undermining Lewis to seek Lewis's dismissal and his own appointment as governor. Because of the slow-moving mail system, former president Jefferson and Lewis's superiors in Washington got the impression that Lewis did not adequately keep in touch with them.Bates wrote letters to Lewis's superiors accusing Lewis of profiting from a mission to return a Mandan chief to his tribe. Because of Bates' accusation, the War Department refused to reimburse Lewis for a large sum he personally advanced for the mission. When Lewis's creditors heard that Lewis would not be reimbursed for the expenses, they called in Lewis's notes, forcing him to liquidate his assets, including la.... Discover the Meriwether Lewis popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Meriwether Lewis books.

Best Seller Meriwether Lewis Books of 2024

  • The Calamity Papers synopsis, comments

    The Calamity Papers

    Dale L Walker

    Spur Awardwinning author, Dale L. Walker continues what he started in Legends and Lies, by uncovering the truth around some of the American West's most famous and infamous figures...

  • The Lewis and Clark Companion synopsis, comments

    The Lewis and Clark Companion

    Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs & Clay Jenkinson

    An indispensable guide to our nation's epic adventureThe years 20032006 mark the bicentennial of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's famous transcontinental journey between the Mi...

  • Sign-Talker synopsis, comments

    Sign-Talker

    James Alexander Thom

    “A cracking good yarn . . . sheer storytelling power . . . James Alexander Thom is one of the finest historical novelists writing today. . . . Anyone who thinks there’s nothing lef...

  • Meriwether synopsis, comments

    Meriwether

    David Nevin

    Meriwether is a young man of genius, power , drive, and singleminded determination to make one of the greatest marches in the world historyto chart the two thousand uncharted miles...

  • The Navigator synopsis, comments

    The Navigator

    Clive Cussler & Paul Kemprecos

    Kurt Austin and the NUMA  Special Assignments Team search for an ancient Middle Eastern relic with secret ties to an American founding father in the #1 bestselling New Yo...

  • The Journals of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Sergeant John Ordway synopsis, comments

    The Journals of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Sergeant John Ordway

    Milo Milton Quaife

    The Wisconsin State Historical Society presents this collection of journals from Captain Lewis and party member Sergeant Ordway. The journals have been transcribed from the origina...

  • Before Lewis and Clark synopsis, comments

    Before Lewis and Clark

    Shirley Christian

    Shortly after Meriweather Lewis reached St. Louis in 1803 to plan for his voyage to the Pacific with William Clark, he prepared his first packet of flora and fauna from west of the...

  • Eclipse synopsis, comments

    Eclipse

    Richard S. Wheeler

    Lewis and Clark: forever paired for their epochal first crossing of the continent in 18041806, darlings of the young republic, and the pride of Thomas Jefferson because they made h...

  • The American Spring synopsis, comments

    The American Spring

    Amelia Stein

    “I don't think there'll ever be a day when there's nothing to dissent about.” Lawrence Ferlinghetti   “The game is being run on people but they don’t know how the game is bein...

  • Exploded View synopsis, comments

    Exploded View

    Sam McPheeters

    It’s 2050, and LAPD Detective Terri Pastuzka has drawn the short straw with her first assignment of the new decade. Someone has executed one of the city’s countless immigrants, and...

  • Die Expeditionen des Meriwether Lewis und William Clark synopsis, comments

    Die Expeditionen des Meriwether Lewis und William Clark

    Alfred Wallon

    Die Pelzhandelsgesellschaften waren die ersten, die nach Westen vordrangen, um neue Jagdgründe zu erschließen. Dabei stießen sie auf unbekannte Flüsse, Gebirgsregionen und Indianer...

  • The Story of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark for Young Readers synopsis, comments

    The Story of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark for Young Readers

    Nellie F. Kingsley

    At the turn of the century, the Lewis and Clark expedition reemerged in American culture in large part due to the exposition presented by the Oregon State government. Nellie Kingsl...

  • Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries synopsis, comments

    Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries

    Tom Shachtman

    Science and experimentation were at the heart of the Founding Fathers' philosophies and actions. The Founders relentlessly tinkered, invented, farmed by means of scientific princip...

  • Der weite Weg nach Westen synopsis, comments

    Der weite Weg nach Westen

    Meriwether Lewis & William Clark

    Die erste Überlandexpedition Ergründung der mächtigen Nation zwischen Atlantik und Pazifik Im Auftrag von Präsident Thomas Jefferson begeben sich die Offiziere Meriwether Lewis un...

  • Undaunted Courage synopsis, comments

    Undaunted Courage

    Stephen E. Ambrose

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Band of Brothers and DDay, the definitive book on Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the most momentous expediti...

  • The Suppressed History of America synopsis, comments

    The Suppressed History of America

    Paul Schrag, Xaviant Haze & Michael Tsarion

    An investigation into the discoveries of Lewis and Clark and other early explorers of America and the terrible acts committed to suppress them Provides archaeological proof of gia...

  • The Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in Europe synopsis, comments

    The Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in Europe

    George Catlin

    The work was created as a continuation of Catlin's previous works on the life and manners of Native Americans. After several years spent with the Indians on the American planes...

  • Bitterroot synopsis, comments

    Bitterroot

    Patricia Tyson Stroud

    In America's early national period, Meriwether Lewis was a towering figure. Selected by Thomas Jefferson to lead the expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase, he was later rewa...