|2nd Governor of Louisiana Territory|
March 3, 1807 – October 11, 1809
|Appointed by||Thomas Jefferson|
|Preceded by||James Wilkinson|
|Succeeded by||Benjamin Howard|
|Born||August 18, 1774
Ivy, Virginia Colony
|Died||October 11, 1809
|Alma mater||Liberty Hall (Washington and Lee University), 1793|
|Occupation||explorer, soldier, politician|
Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator. He was best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with William Clark. Their mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, establish trade 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. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him Governor of Upper Louisiana in 1806. He died of gunshot wounds in what was an act of suicide.
References[change | change source]
- Fritz, Harry W. (2004). The Lewis and Clark Expedition. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 59. ISBN 0-313-31661-9
- Defender Wilson, Mary Louise; Fenelon, James V. (2004). Voyage of Domination, "Purchase" as Conquest, Sakakawea for Savagery: Distorted Icons from Misrepresentations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Wicazo Sa Review. University of Minnesota Press. 19 (1): pp. 90–1.
- Miller, Robert J. (2008). Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and Manifest Destiny. Bison Books. p. 108. ISBN 0803215983