President Jefferson tapped Meriwether Lewis to undertake a scientific expedition to the Pacific Coast and back. Lewis chose William Clark to be his second in command. The oftentimes moody Lewis and dependable Clark made a compatible team.
Jefferson chose Lewis for the journey West because Lewis was scientifically versed, experienced in wilderness life, very well-read and an excellent writer. Despite his integrity and prodigious leadership skills, Lewis was afflicted with emotional problems that came to a head after their voyage was complete. The journals the pair kept reveal that Lewis got along with his crew and the Indians they encountered, but lacked Clark's natural ease.
Clark was the practical one of the pair. Reliable, he was the troubleshooter who had to solve problems they encountered during their expedition. In dealing with the space around him, he was able to convert what he saw into vertical map perspective. This keen eye and instinct for landscape made him an exceptional cartographer. Clark's writing was not as polished as Lewis's; however, Clark was an astute observer and a more conscientious diarist.
Following the expedition, Jefferson appointed Lewis governor of Louisiana, which proved to be Lewis's undoing. He began drinking very heavily. His melancholy grew worse and he reportedly attempted to kill himself in July 1809 while traveling to Washington on business. He was found dead in his lodgings in Tennessee on October 11, 1809; while not ever confirmed, it is believed he took his own life.
Clark married successfully following the expedition. He went to St. Louis, and was promoted to General of Militia and became Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He kept the peace among the Indians along the Mississippi River for 30 years, took care of Sacagawea's son, Jean Baptiste and, after Lewis's death, helped prepare the journals he and Clark kept for publication.
