When Thomas Jefferson acceded to the Presidency in 1801, one of his great unfulfilled wishes was to see a proper scientific expedition carried overland to the Pacific. As a Congressman in 1783, he had failed to convince George Rogers Clark to explore the west, and in 1793, his plans for André Michaux fell prey to international political machinations, and several other attempts had failed at even earlier stages. But in 1801, Jefferson dusted off the basic plan he had devised for Michaux, and once again, prepared to send an exploring party to the west.

To lead his expedition, Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, a political ally, fellow Virginian, and a rejected applicant (at the tender age of 19) for the Michaux expedition. Lewis was not the worldly savant that Jefferson was, but he was well-read, scientifically versed, wrote beautiful prose, and was experienced in wilderness life. Lewis was allowed to select his second in command, an old army friend, William Clark, with whom he had served in the Northwest Territory. Although less well-educated than Lewis, Clark was an astute observer in his own right and if his prose was less polished, he was a more conscientious diarist and a very capable cartographer. Differing in personality, the moody Lewis and solid Clark made a compatible team.

From the outset, the Lewis and Clark expedition seemed destined to enjoy a better fate than its predecessors. While Michaux had become ensnared in international rivalries after entering the field, Lewis and Clark were presented with news that the Louisiana Territory had been purchased, removing one more international hurdle to clear in an already arduous course. Although usually thought of as a scientific expedition, it was driven as much by political and commercial interests as scientific. In keeping with his Enlightened precepts, the information that Jefferson hoped to gain was practical as well as theoretical. He hoped as much to spur the extension of the fur trade further into the interior as to advance pure knowledge, and wished to determine which areas were most amenable to white settlement. On the political front, Lewis and Clark were specifically enjoined to cultivate alliances among the Indians to blunt Spanish and British influence in the region. Above all, the success of the expedition promised to aid in fulfilling what Americans thought was inevitable: extending American sovereignty from sea to sea.

Lewis left Philadelphia in the summer of 1803, and joined with Clark and a few recruits in Indiana before arriving late in the year at the staging area near St. Louis. After making final preparations, they set off on May 14, 1804, for the west, ascending the Mississippi to the mouth of the Missouri, and then westward. From North Dakota to nearly the coast, Lewis and Clark passed through lands that no Europeans had ever seen, before reaching their goal, the Pacific, in November 1805. On the return leg of their journey (begun on March 3, 1806), the two improvised an even more ambitious plan, splitting their party in two to cover more territory, before reuniting in North Dakota. They finally arrived back in St. Louis on September 23, 1806.

Today, all along the original trail, the expedition is remembered as an example of fortitude and scientific achievement. Unlike many who followed, the explorers were generally cooperative with the native peoples they encountered -- indeed, they were reliant upon them -- and on only one occasion did they resort to violence. In their descriptions of dozens of new plant and animal species, in their "ethnographic" descriptions of Native Americans, and in their invaluable maps of the region, Lewis and Clark more than justified Jefferson's confidence and truly set the stage for an American west.

The journals of Lewis and Clark housed at the APS constitute the major source of information on the transcontinental scientific expedition of the Corps of Discovery in 1804-1806. The bulk of the collection is comprised of 18 "codices" bound variously in red morocco leather, brown leather, or marbled-paper boards, and 12 loose leaf codices, these were kept alternately by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their journey with the Corps of Discovery. Entries on the voyage west were made almost daily with few exceptions, though on the return voyage, there are several, occasionally substantial gaps. The collection also contains some loose pages that were not a part of the codices or that concern provenance.

Most journals include records of meteorological observations, of the geographic position of the Corps, and a narrative description of the events of the day and sights along the way. Lewis' occasionally fulsome prose contrasts with Clark's more utilitarian language, but both provide concise and often exacting descriptions of the flora and fauna, geography, and inhabitants of the western reaches of the Louisiana Territory. Both Lewis and Clark included rough sketches of items of interest, primarily plants, animals, or material goods associated with the Indians encountered. Clark was the cartographer.

The APS has digitized many of the pages from the journals. Links to available digital versions of the pages are included in the inventory. You may also view a gallery of all images here.

Native American Images note : Sixty-nine original ink sketches of maps, animals, fishes, and Native American artifacts drawn by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from 1803-1806 in their journal notes during the Corps of Discovery’s exploration west to the Pacific Ocean. Native American artifact images include: Shoshone smoking pipe and fish weir; Mandan war hatchet and battle axe; Chinook paddle, arrow, fish hook & line, conic hat, canoes, and house; Flathead (Salish) profiles and cradleboard. All 18 bound codices and 12 loose-leaved codices are referenced in John Freeman’s Guide to Manuscripts relating to the American Indian in the Library of the American Philosophical Society, particularly Codex I (Clark) and Codex J (Lewis) contain the largest number of ethnological sketches. An inventory of illustrations is available. Also noted in Murphy Smith’s Historical American Sketches. Other related images include: the journal of Patrick Gass, Sergeant of the Corps, published in 1811, contains six black and white engravings of Oto, Missouri, Mandan and Blackfoot (Sihasapa) Indians. Of particular note, an 1807 crayon portrait of Shahaka (Grand Blanc), drawn by Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Memin, a Mandan chief known to Lewis and Clark at their winter camp from 1804-1805.

Provenance

Deposited in part by Thomas Jefferson, 1817, and Nicholas Biddle, 1818; presented in part by Charles J. Biddle, 1949.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Lewis and Clark Journals, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Prepared by rsc, 2001.

Alternate formats available

The journals have been microfilmed in their entirety on two reels (Film 214).

Related material

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University holds a collection of Field Maps (WA MSS 303-304).

The Missouri Historical Society holds the Merriwether Lewis Collection (A0897).

The Manuscripts Department of the APS also houses:

1. Journal of John Ordway, 1804-1806 ( Call no. 917.3 Or2).
2. Journal of Meriwether Lewis, 1803 ( Call no. 917.3 L58p).
3. Journal of William Clark, 1806 ( Call no. 917.3 L58cl).
4. Journal of William Clark, 1808 ( Call no. 917.3 L58c).
5. Nicholas Biddle, "Notes of queries to William Clark, with replies," 1810 ( Call no. 917.3 L58b).
6. Nicholas Biddle, Correspondence concerning the Lewis and Clark Expedition ( Call no. Film 1319).
7. Charles Willson Peale sketches of Lewis and Clark specimens (Quail, Louisiana tanager, Horned lizard, Lewis' woodpecker)( Call no. B P31).
8. William Lingelbach, Documents concerning the William Clark Papers discovered in 1953 ( Call no. 917.3 L58x).

Bibliography

The major editions of the journals of Lewis and Clark include:

Early American History Note

The Lewis and Clark Journals are among the APS's most treasured and well-known collections. MOLE contains a detailed inventory of the collection.

Genre(s)

• Crayon drawings
• Journals (notebooks)
• Maps
• Sketches.
• Travel Narratives and Journals

Geographic Name(s)

• Louisiana Purchase--Discovery and exploration
• United States--Exploring expeditions
• West (U.S.)--Description and travel

Personal Name(s)

• Bertin, Exupère Joseph
• Clark, William, 1770-1838
• Lewis, Meriwether, 1774-1809

Subject(s)

• Chinook Indians
• Early National Politics
• Exploration
• Indians of North America
• Indians of North America--Missouri
• Indians of North America--Montana
• Indians of North America--North Dakota
• Indians of North America--Oregon
• Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806)
• Mandan Indians
• Missouri Indians
• Native America
• Natural history
• Northwest Coast Indians
• Oto indians
• Plains Indians
• Plateau Indians
• Salish Indians
• Shoshoni Indians
• Sihasapa Indians
• Travel