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Lewis, Meriwether and William Clark.

[A Pair of Autograph Documents].

19 May 1800 and 29 May 1794. As follows:.

Lewis, Meriwether.  [Autograph receipt signed “Meriwether Lewis.”] Vicinity of Detroit, Northwest Territory, 19 November 1800.  Manuscript in ink on laid paper, 3.375 x 4.6 inches; docketed “No. 11: $3.55: ferriage” in a contemporary hand on verso.

This rare receipt, penned and signed by Lewis, records his payment of “three dollars and fifty five cents” to one “Cicot” (evidently a voyageur or settler) for “ferrying himself and party over the River Rogue” (the River Rouge, a tributary of the Detroit River). The receipt is also signed by Cicot.

 

Meriwether Lewis served in the Virginia militia during the Whiskey Rebellion and enlisted in the regular Army in May of 1795. Assigned to General Anthony Wayne’s 2nd Legion, he marched to Fort Greeneville in Ohio Territory arriving in time for the signing of the Treaty of Greenville, which formally brought an end to the Northwest Indian War. In 1800, Lewis was appointed regimental paymaster at Detroit, attached to the First United States Regiment. His job took him to various northwest forts and outposts, and he roamed throughout the Ohio River valley, often carrying banknotes and always keeping extensive records. The present document offers a glimpse of his activities in the vicinity of Detroit. Lewis was promoted to Captain on December 5, 1800, less than a month after issuing this document.

[with]

Clark, William.  [Manuscript document signed “W. Clark,” with additions in Clark’s hand]. Greeneville [Fort Greeneville], Ohio Territory, 29 May 1794.  Manuscript in ink on laid paper, 5 x 6.75 inches; docketed in a contemporary hand “No. 16” on verso with later pencil annotations.

   

A manuscript document authorizing issuance of eight “rations” to Native Americans, signed by William Clark as lieutenant and countersigned by John Mills, adjutant. The portion of this document in Clark’s hand reads “Greene Ville May 29th 94 W Clark Lieut. 4 S L Contractor.”

 

In 1792, three years after beginning his military career, Clark was commissioned as a Lieutenant under the command of Anthony Wayne and assigned to the 4th Sub-Legion. In November of 1793, during the Northwest Indian War, Wayne’s legion built Fort Greeneville, named for Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene. While posted there, Clark was involved in several Indian skirmishes, and in August 1794, just three months after signing this document, he successfully commanded a company of riflemen at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which brought the War to a close and ended major hostilities in the region until Tecumseh's War 15 years later. Meriwether Lewis, who enlisted as an ensign in the U.S. Army in May of 1795 arrived in Greeneville the following August and served for some six months under Clark, with whom he became friends. In July of 1796, Clark resigned from the military and returned to his family's plantation in Kentucky where he remained until being invited by Lewis to share command of the newly formed Corps of Discovery in 1803.

A rare offering of the autographs of both Lewis and Clark.

Item #5847

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