 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Pathfinders for a nation, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with their men, were the first Americans to carve a track across the West to the Pacific. The official reports and published accounts of the expedition, the "Corps of Discovery," brought to the attention of the American public the potential of this vast new territory with its thousands of square miles of rich land and virgin timber.
Frequently hard pressed, the Lewis and Clark Expedition succeeded in making the West itself an object of desire. The lure of adventure was thus reinforced by the promise of great wealth. In their wake would follow the mountain men, prospectors, cattlemen, sod busters, tracklayers and city builders—the successive generations of an empire. President Thomas Jefferson, for whom Lewis served as private secretary, was an enthusiastic advocate of expansion. Jefferson, in 1803, asked Congress for an appropriation of $2500 to "send intelligent officers with 10 or 12 men to explore even to the Western ocean." The appropriation was forthcoming and the expedition set out in 1804 to determine what sort of real-estate bargain the United States had been made by the Louisiana Purchase.
Jefferson described his friend Lewis as a man "of courage undaunted; possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose; ....honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a fidelity to truth." Red-headed, open-hearted William Clark, younger brother of George Rogers Clark, was the perfect counterpart to the introverted, scientific Lewis.
They were both expert woodsmen and intelligent leaders who would share command apparently without quarrel. The idealistic Lewis, who was always planning and philosophizing, was perhaps the most gifted. The practical Clark was the principle military director of the expedition, materially assisting in the arrangements and keeping a journal which was afterward published. His intimate knowledge of Indian habits and character had much to do with the success of the expedition.
For two years, four months and ten days, traveling 4000 miles, the explorers were beyond all advice or support. Having rowed, paddled, trudged, and ridden horseback quite literally beyond the edge of the known world, they reached the mouth of the Columbia River on November 15, 1805. Their trek had taken them across the plains, up the Missouri to its source, across the Great Divide, then down the Kooskoosky and Columbia rivers. After wintering on the Columbia, they retraced their steps with some planned diversions and returned to St. Louis in 1806.
It was five months after reaching St. Louis before the two men arrived in Washington, D.C., in February, 1807, with Congress in session to receive and hear firsthand of their exploits. Captain Lewis was soon appointed governor of Louisiana Territory and Captain Clark a general of its militias and agent of the United States for Indian affairs.
About the expedition, Clark was quoted: "It will be a pleasing reflection in future life to find that the expedition has been productive of the advantages to our country, geography and science.... To respect the rights of humanity has and ever will be the leading principle of my life. No reflection will be more pleasing to me than that of affecting the objects in view with the effusion of so small a portion of human blood."
Clark was a remarkable geographer. His maps and advice guided Americans of the next four decades into the Northwest. His maps, published in 1814, just like his journals of the expedition, are filled with details.
A famous painting by noted Western artist Charles M. Russell hangs on the wall in the Montana House of Representatives. The painting depicts a scene so often repeated by the Corps of Discovery, that of a peace council with members of the many Indian tribes (in this case the members of the Salish–Flathead Nation). One of the great feats accomplished by the expedition was their ability uniformly to respect the rights of humanity. This painting depicts their implementation of a charge in their Commission by President Jefferson: "In all your intercourse with natives, treat them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner."
Both men displayed through these and other actions the principles taught in Freemasonry. A Mason in his native Virginia prior to the expedition, Lewis served as Charter Master in 1808 of St. Louis Lodge No. 111 during which time Clark was made a Mason. In an as yet unexplained incident, Lewis later died of gunshot wounds while traveling to Washington, D.C.
Clark continued to serve his country as Territorial Governor of the Missouri Territory for nine years, then as Superintendent of Indian Affairs until his death in 1838. Active in St. Louis Masonry, he was buried with Masonic honors in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. A large monument with Square and Compasses is over his grave.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were
Masons who truly made a lasting difference in the history of our
nation.
 |
E. Arthur
Haglund is a Life Member and Past Master of Acalanes Fellowship Lodge No. 480, Lafayette, California; Manito Lodge No. 246, Spokane, Washington. A Past Grand Master of California, he has been on several Grand Lodge committees, the Masonic Renewal Committee, and active in DeMolay, Red Cross of Constantine, the Royal Order of Scotland and, in Spokane, the Scottish Rite, York Rite, and El Katif Shrine Temple. Retired from a 30-year career with Kaiser Aluminum, he is a leader in several business management, civic, and church organizations. (Photo: ©olan mills) |