Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis
Portrait by Charles Wilson Peale, c. 1807
2nd Governor of the Louisiana Territory
In office
March 3, 1807 – October 11, 1809
Appointed byThomas Jefferson
Preceded byJames Wilkinson
Succeeded byBenjamin Howard
Commander of the Corps of Discovery
In office
1803–1806
PresidentThomas Jefferson
Preceded byCorps commissioned
Succeeded byCorps disbanded
Private Secretary to the President
In office
1801–1803
PresidentThomas Jefferson
Preceded byWilliam Smith Shaw
Succeeded byLewis Harvie
Personal details
Born(1774-08-18)August 18, 1774
Locust Hill Plantation, Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia (now Ivy, Virginia)
DiedOctober 11, 1809(1809-10-11) (aged 35)
Hickman County, Tennessee, U.S. (now near Hohenwald, Tennessee)
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
OccupationExplorer, soldier, politician
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceInfantry
Years of service1795–1807
RankCaptain
UnitLegion of the United States
1st United States Infantry Regiment
CommandsCorps of Discovery; see above.

Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark. Their mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, establish trade with, and sovereignty over the natives near the Missouri River, and claim the Pacific Northwest and Oregon Country for the United States before European nations. They also collected scientific data and information on indigenous nations.[1] President Thomas Jefferson appointed him Governor of Upper Louisiana in 1806.[2][3] He died in 1809 of gunshot wounds, in what was either a murder or suicide.

  1. ^ Fritz, Harry W. (2004). The Lewis and Clark Expedition. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 59. ISBN 0-313-31661-9
  2. ^ Fenelon, James V.; Defender-Wilson, Mary Louise (August 24, 2023). "Voyage of Domination, "Purchase" as Conquest, Sakakawea for Savagery: Distorted Icons from Misrepresentations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition". Wíčazo Ša Review. 19 (1): 85–104. doi:10.1353/wic.2004.0006. JSTOR 1409488. S2CID 147041160.
  3. ^ Miller, Robert J. (2008). Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and Manifest Destiny. Bison Books. p. 108. ISBN 9780803215986.