Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/398

392 392 ANDREW T. LEWIS. is mentioned in connection with the Missouri Fur Com- pany at St. Louis in 1809. and in the Mandan towns in the fur trade in 1811. There are no descendants of either Meriwether or Reuben Lewis. Of the early life of Meriwether Lewis it is said that at the age of eight years he often went out in the middle of the night, into the forests, with his dogs, to hunt the raccoon and opossum. At thirteen he was sent to a Latin school and continued there for five years. At eighteen he returned home, and for two years had the charge of his mother's farm. At twenty he was a volunteer in the militia, and took part against the discontent produced by the excise taxes in the western part of the United States. Through the influence of Jefferson, he was transferred to the regular army and commissioned a lieutenant in the line, and afterwards was appointed paymaster of his regi- ment. Jefferson had long desired knowledge oT the West; he proposed to the American Philosophical Society in 1792, the year of the discovery of the Columbia River, to raise money for an expedition to ascend the Missouri, cross the Stony Mountains, and descend the nearest river to the Pacific Ocean. Meriwether Lewis applied at the time to make the journey. When Jefferson was inaugurated President the young lieutenant became his secretary; he was commissioned captain in the regular army April 15, 1802. Lewis assisted the President with his confidential mes- sage to Congress of January 18, 1803. In this message the President proposed to send an exploring expedition up the Missouri River, cross the high lands and follow the best water courses to the Pacific Ocean. The President says of Lewis : "I now had an opportu- nity of knowing him intimately; of courage undaunted ; "possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which