1Thomas Jefferson to Paul Allen, 18 August 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
In compliance with the request conveyed in your letter of May 25. I have endeavored to obtain, from the relations & friends of the late Governor Lewis , information of such incidents of his life as might be not unacceptable to those who may read the Narrative of his Western discoveries. the ordinary occurrences of a private life, and those also while acting in a subordinate sphere in the army,...
2Unidentified Author’s Short Biography of Meriwether Lewis, [before 18 August 1813] (Jefferson Papers)
M Lewis , born August 18, o f 74 in Albemarle . he at first went to common day schools, learning to read, to write & Arithmetic with ordinary facility , he was early remarkable for intrepidity, liberality & hardihood, at eight years of age going alone with his dogs at midnight in the depth of winter, hunting wading creeks where the banks were covered with ice & snow. he might be tracked...
3Paul Allen to Thomas Jefferson, 18 August 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
I have in consequence of the reception of Your letter & the prospect which it gives Me of rendering the work more compleat by the addition of Gov. Lewis biography prevailed upon the Booksellers to delay the publication of the first volume as it was not originally contemplated to have done. before the second. Their plan was to publish the first volume as soon as it was struck off & to have the...
4Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
Thomas Jefferson had long advocated sending an American-sponsored expedition to explore the region between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean . Although frustrated by the inability of George Rogers Clark in 1783–84, John Ledyard in 1788, and André Michaux in 1793 to fulfill this mission, Jefferson finally saw his dream become a reality with the dispatch in 1804 and safe return two years...