The Lewis and Clark Expedition Government Documents Collection

The Lewis and Clark Expedition Government Documents Collection, 1801-1832

Overview of the Collection

Title: The Lewis and Clark Expedition Government Documents Collection
Dates: 1801-1832 (inclusive)
18011832
Quantity: 1 box, (.5 cubic feet)
Collection Number: OLPb146LCD
Summary: This collection includes early government documents and newspaper reports documenting the Lewis and Clark Expedition between the years 1801-1832.
Repository: Lewis & Clark College, Special Collections and Archives

Aubrey R. Watzek Library
615 S. Palatine Hill Rd.
Portland, OR
97219
Telephone: 5037687758
Fax: 5037687282
archives@lclark.edu
Access Restrictions: This collection has no restrictions and is open for research.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770-1838) helped determine a nation's destiny. Between 1803 and 1806 they led the Corps of Discovery, commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, across the uncharted American West. Operating under a letter of instruction from Jefferson, they carried the concerns of the American Enlightenment ot the sprawling interior of the continent.

This collection of early published notices of the Expedition includes: U.S. House of Representatives and Senate publications that summarize congressional activity on the Lewis and Clark Expedition's initial funding, Jefferson's 1806 progress report, and reports of the Corps of Discovery's safe return. This collection is a partial assemblage of the exhaustive listing of items described in The Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Bibliography and Essays published by Lewis & Clark College in 2003

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Government documents and periodical publications.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish, exhibit, broadcast, or quote from materials in the Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections requires written permission of the Head of Archives & Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

The Lewis and Clark Expedition Government Documents Collection (OLPb146LCD), Lewis & Clark College Aubrey Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections, Portland, Oregon.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Arranged in the item order found in Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Location of Collection

Special Collections

Processing Note

Processed in 2002.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
1.1	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2a.1: Jefferson’s Confidential Request for Funds On January 18, 1803 President Jefferson sent a confidential message to both house of Congress requesting funds for an expedition promoting commerce with the Indian tribes along the Missouri River. This message was recorded in confidence for the Members of Congress, and the printed proceedings of House and Senate note the delivery of the message, but it was not made available to the public in printed form till 1828. This file includes copies of: Glazier reprint, Journal of the House of Representatives, 1801-1809, 2, 124f; Glazier reprint, Journal of the Senate, 1801-1809, 2, 44f; and American State Papers (1832), Class II. Indian Affairs, item 102, pp. 684-685. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	1803
1.2	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2a.3: Act Authorizing Jefferson to take possession of the Louisiana Territory This file includes copies of: Glazier reprint, Journal of the House of Representatives, 1801-1809, 3, 20ff; and Glazier reprint, Journal of the Senate, 1801-1809, 3, 8ff. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	1803
1.3	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2a.4: Report of the Commerce Committee This file includes: Disbound section of report containing the commerce and manufacturers component. Full title: REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURERS, WHO WERE INSTRUCTED, BY A RESOLUTION OF THIS HOUSE, OF THE 18th ULT. "TO ENQUIRE INTO THE EXPEDIENCY OF AUTHORISING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO EMPLOY PERSONS TO EXPLORE SUCH PARTS OF THE PROVINCE OF LOUISIANA See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	1804
1.4	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2b.1: Jefferson’s Report to Congress This file includes: Disbound section of the Medical Repository (November / December 1805, January 1806): 315-318. Includes a notice of Jefferson's official report and a proposal for Lewis's Map of the Parts of North-America which lie between the 35th and 51st Degrees of North Latitude, from the Mississippi and the upper Lakes to the North Pacific Ocean. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	1805-1806
1.5	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2b.2: Jefferson’s Letter to Congress Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Congress dated February 19, 1806 discussing Lewis and Clark’s travels up the Missouri to Fort Mandan. This letter is included as the introduction to the full report to Congress printed by A & G Way, Washington, 1806. This file includes: Disbound original JOURNAL OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA lacking title page; and Glazier reprint, Journal of the Senate, 1801-1809, 5, 144-147. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	February 19, 1806
1.5b	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2b.3: Jefferson’s Report to Congress “Lewis and Clarke’s Expedition. Communicated to Congress, February 19, 1806.” American State Papers Class II. Indian Affairs. No. 113. 9th Congress, 1st Session. pp. 705-743. This is a copy of Jefferson’s Report to Congress, Washington, 1806. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	1832
1.6	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2b.7: The Panoplist; or the Christian’s Armory This file includes: the article titled “Literary, Philosophical and Geographical Intelligence” with copies of Jefferson’s Letter to Congress, February 19, 1806, and Lewis’s Mandan letter to Jefferson. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	April, 1806
1.7	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2c.2: Jefferson’s Message to Congress Jefferson’s Message to Congress of December 2, 1806, regarding the completion of the expedition and its success. This file includes copies of: Glazier reprint, Journal of the House of Representatives, 1801-1809, 6, 9-17; and Glazier reprint, Journal of the Senate, 1801-1809, 6, 8-21. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	December 2, 1806
1.8	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2c.3: Jefferson’s December 2, 1806 Message Jefferson’s Message to Congress of December 2, 1806, regarding the completion of the expedition and its success. This file includes: December 6, 1806, The Weekly Inspector of New York. Vol. I, No. 15, pp. 121, 132-6. Reprint of Jefferson’s Message to Congress, December 2, 1806. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	December 2, 1806
1.9	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2c.4: Bill Making Compensation to Lewis and Clark This file includes copies of: The American State Papers reprint of the text of Washington 1807, substitled “Military Affairs”, Vol. 1, pp. 207-209, 9th Congress, 2nd Session, No. 68 “Gratuities to the Officers and Men in the Expedition to the Pacific Ocean, Under Lewis and Clarke; and Glazier reprint, Journal of the House of Representatives, 1801-1809, 6, 191; and Glazier reprint, Journal of the Senate, 1801-1809, 6 pp. 220. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	1807
1.10	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 2c.4: Bill Making Compensation to Lewis and Clark Title page bound in back following Index and Table of Contents. Chapter LXXVII is titled “AN ACT making compensation to Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, and their companions” (294-295). This is the final version of the act approved by both houses of Congress and the President of the United States, March 3, 1807. This file includes: THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. 8, 1807. See Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for information on other versions of this text housed elsewhere.	1807
1.11	Lit. of the Lewis and Clark Expedition MISC: Photocopies of articles in the National Intelligencer	1807

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

West (U.S.) -- Discovery and exploration

Personal Names

Clark, William, 1770-1838
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Lewis, Meriwether, 1774-1809

Corporate Names

Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806)

Archives West Finding Aid

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