Wilderness Journey: The Life of William Clark

343 Pages·2004·1.681 MB·English

by  William E. Foley

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
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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