1 - Jefferson’s Indian policy"[I]f ever we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe," he wrote William Henry Harrison in 1807, "we will never lay it down till that tribe is exterminated." "[I]f they wish to remain on the land which covers the bones of their fathers," he continued, "[they must] keep the peace with [us] who ask their friendship without needing it." "In war," Jefferson added ominously, "they will kill some of us; we shall destroy all of them."28 Fresonke, Kris and Mark Spence, eds. Lewis and Clark: Legacies, Memories, and New Perspectives. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 2004. (p. 227) |
2 - Spence on present day interpretations of the expedition“… Meriwether Lewis and William Clark serve as exemplary models of multi-culturalism whose good first intentions were unfortunately ignored in the intervening two centuries.” Mark Spence, "The unnatural history of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial," Montana: The Magazine of Western History Summer 2003 : n.p. [on line] |
3 - Lewis on the abundance of wildlife in the Great Plains“This scenery already rich, pleasing and beautiful,"
Lewis wrote near the White River in South Dakota on September 17, 1804,
"was still farther hightened by immence herds of buffaloe, deer elk and
antelopes which we saw in every direction feeding on the hills and
plains. I do not think I exagerate when I estimate the number of
buffaloe which could be compre[hend]ed at one view to amount to 3,000.” |
| 4- Science and the Republican experiment "… the successes of science challenged Americans to prove to the world that republican institutions were as favorable to intellectual achievement as they were to liberty." John C. Greene, American Science in the Age of Jefferson (Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1984) 6. |
| 5 - Lewis the victim of the beasts or of some fortune Friday June 14th 1805. [Lewis] "It now seemed to me that all the beasts of the neighbourhood had made a league to distroy me, or that some fortune was disposed to amuse herself at my expence, for I had not proceded more than three hundred yards from the burrow of this tyger cat, before three bull buffaloe, which wer feeding with a large herd about half a mile from me on my left, seperated from the herd and ran full speed towards me, I thought at least to give them some amusement and altered my direction to meet them; when they arrived within a hundred yards they mad a halt, took a good view of me and retreated with precipitation. I then continued my rout homewards passed the buffaloe which I had killed, but did not think it prudent to remain all night at this place which really from the succession of curious adventures wore the impression on my mind of inchantment; at sometimes for a moment I thought it might be a dream, but the prickley pears which pierced my feet very severely once in a while, particularly after it grew dark, convinced me that I was really awake, and that it was necessary to make the best of my way to camp. it was sometime after dark before I returned to the party; I found them extremely uneasy for my safety; they had formed a thousand conjectures, all of which equally forboding my death, which they had so far settled among them, that they had already agreed on the rout which each should take in the morning to surch for me. I felt myself much fortiegued, but eat a hearty supper and took a good night's rest.- the weather being warm I had left my leather over shirt and had woarn only a yellow flannin one." |
| 6 - I ... resolved in future, to ... to live for mankind, as I have heretofore
lived for myself. [Lewis, August 18, 1805] " I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence, and now soarly feel the want of that information which those hours would have given me had they been judiciously expended. but since they are past and cannot be recalled, I dash from me the gloomy thought and resolved in future, to redouble my exertions and at least indeavour to promote those two primary objects of human existence, by giving them the aid of that portion of talents which nature and fortune have bestoed on me; or in future, to live for mankind, as I have heretofore lived for myself." |
| 7 - The Corps of Discovery looked like America. "The Corps of Discovery looked like America. Captains Lewis and Clark were well- connected southern freemasons. Private John Potts was a new immigrant, born in Germany. The crack-shot, George Drouillard, was half-French, half-Shawnee. The interpreter, Sacagawea, was full Indian. (There are more statues to her than to any other woman in America.) York, Clark's slave, made a bigger impact among Indians than anyone. An incredulous Hidatsa chief rubbed York's skin with his finger to get "the paint" off. Gratifyingly for modern schools, this was not a party of dead white males. When it reached the Pacific, everyone voted on where to spend the winter of 1805-06, including York and Sacagawea. To many Americans, the vote exemplifies the west's freedom-expanding qualities: only after crossing the Mississippi is true democracy possible." "We proceeded on" , Economist, 00130613, 5/15/2004, Vol. 371, |
| 8 - Lewis on Columbus and Cook. [Lewis, April 7, 1805] Fort Mandan April 7th 1805. ... Our vessels consisted of six small canoes, and two large perogues. This little fleet altho not quite so rispectable as those of Columbus or Capt. Cook were still viewed by us with as much pleasure as those deservedly famed adventurers ever beheld theirs; and I dare say with quite as much anxiety for their safety and preservation. we were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civillized man had never trodden; the good or evil it had in store for us was for experiment yet to determine, and these little vessells contained every article by which we were to expect to subsist or defend ourselves. however as this the state of mind in which we are, generally gives the colouring to events, when the immagination is suffered to wander into futurity, the picture which now presented itself to me was a most pleasing one. entertaing as I do, the most confident hope of succeading in a voyage which had formed a darling project of mine for the last ten years, I could but esteem this moment of my departure as among the most happy of my life. The party are in excellent health and sperits, zealously attatched to the enterprise, and anxious to proceed; not a whisper of murmur or discontent to be heard among them, but all act in unison, and with the most perfect harmony. |
| 9 - Lewis considering he had done little for the happiness of humanity [Lewis, August 18, 1805] Sunday August 18th 1805. "... This day I completed my thirty first year, and conceived that I had in all human probability now existed about half the period which I am to remain in this Sublunary world. I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the hapiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding generation. I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence, and now soarly feel the want of that information which those hours would have given me had they been judiciously expended. but since they are past and cannot be recalled, I dash from me the gloomy thought and resolved in future, to redouble my exertions and at least indeavour to promote those two primary objects of human existence, by giving them the aid of that portion of talents which nature and fortune have bestoed on me; or in future, to live for mankind, as I have heretofore lived for myself." |