Page:The Scientific Monthly vol. 3.djvu/360

 354 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY

herds of bison and antelope and peopled with war-like but interest- ing Indian tribes. Fur traders and their like had brought back such information as was to be had about the country. The fascination of this great unknown wilderness had long before taken possession of Jefferson. While a resident in Paris he had become acquainted with John Ledyard^ one of those nomads who roamed the world in search of adventure. Ledyard had been with Captain Cook in his famous voyage through Behring Straits and was with him on his last fateful visit to the Sandwich Islands. He came to Paris in 1786 ready for a new quest and was urged by Jefferson to traverse Europe and Siberia to Kam- schatka, to cross in Russian vessels to Alaska, then a Bussian posses- sion, to go southward to the latitude of the Missouri River, from which point he was to travel eastward to the headwaters of that river and along its course through Louisiana to the United States. Ledyard at- tempted to carry out this program, but through interference from the Bussian government his plans were thwarted.

Nothing daunted by the unhappy outcome of this attempt, Jefferson proposed to the American Philosophical Society that a subscription be made up from private sources to finance an expedition up the Missouri Biver from St. Louis to cross what Jefferson called the ^' stony moun- tains "^ to some corresponding stream on their farther slope, the course of which was to be traced westward to the ocean. Caspar Wistar, get- ting wind of these plans, in June, 1792, tried to get his Philadelphia friend Dr. Moses Marshall to confer with Jefferson with the purpose in view of undertaking the task.' But Dr. Marshall having been appointed justice of the peace, was diverted permanently from botany (Harsh- berger). The leadership was proposed to Andr6 Michaux, who ac- cepted the rather rigorous terms of the promoters of the enterprise. Jefferson, speaking for the Philosophical Society, gave Michaux his in- structions which, did time permit, would make very interesting reading. Michaux reached Kentucky only to be recalled by the French govern- ment to carry out a program of exploration for which he had been previously employed by it.

A third attempt was soon planned, this time with government aid. In January, 1803, acting on a confidential message from Jefferson, Congress approved his recommendation that a sum deemed sufficient to carry out the project be appropriated, and Jefferson lost no time in '^npointing his old neighbor and private secretary. Captain Meriwether Lewis, to take charge of the expedition. After associating with himself William Clark of Kentucky, Lewis, in April, 1803, received the neces- sary credentials and instructions from President Jefferson covering all points of policy likely to arise. To prepare himself the better for hia work Lewis spent some months in Philadelphia receiving instruction

1 Mem. Ed., XVIU, 144.

s Darlington, *' Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall," p. 570.

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