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William Clark

The Corps of Discovery

7 The first time we met your mother was November of 1804. At Fort
Mandan, on the north bank of the Missouri River, just across from the lower

Mandan village led by Big White and Little Raven.

8 Why were we there? I will tell you the tale, a bit of it at least, today. Maybe
more tomorrow. It is the tale of the best group of men and the finest captain I
have ever known, God rest my dear friend’s soul. It is the story of the Corps of

Discovery, and your mother’s story, too. Her life was as much changed by our
journey as our lives were changed, for the better, by knowing her.

9 For me it began when a letter written on June 19, 1803, came.
10 Who was it from? Right, indeed, lad. It was from Meriwether Lewis.
Captain Lewis, by then. When I first met him, in 1795, he was an ensign on
the Ohio frontier and under my command.

11 He served only six months in my Chosen Rifle Company, but in that
time the two of us became as close friends as any two can ever be. When we

parted company he clasped my hand with just as much warmth as I did his.
12 “Billy,” he said, “one day we two shall do great things together.”

13 Now, if another man said that, you might have laughed. But not when it
was said by Meriwether Lewis. So I just nodded back to him, not knowing

how true those words of his would prove to be. Then, almost eight years
later, that letter arrived. It asked me to take part with him in an adventure.
These words I know by heart:

14 “My plan,” Captain Lewis wrote, “is to descend the Ohio River in a keeled
boat, thence up the mouth of the Mississippi to the mouth of the Missouri, and
up that river . . . to its source, and if practicable, pass over to the waters of the
Columbia or Oregon River and by descending it reach the Western Ocean.”

15 That plan, of course, came from Thomas Jefferson. Everyone knew that
our new president longed to have the western part of the continent explored.

descend To descend means to move from a higher point to a lower point.
practicable A practicable plan is possible to carry out.

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