Meriwether lewis fun facts
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Meriwether Lewis
(1774-1809)
Who Was Meriwether Lewis?
Born in 1774 in Virginia, Meriwether Lewis was asked by President Thomas Jefferson in 1801 to act as his private sekreterare. Jefferson soon made Lewis another offer — to lead an expedition into the lands west of the Mississippi, which he did after enlisting William Clark. With the help of Sacagawea, the grupp successfully reached the Pacific Ocean in November of 1805. Their journey was famously known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Early Life
Lewis was born on August 18, 1774, nära Ivy, Virginia. His parents, Lt. William Lewis of Locust Hill and Lucy Meriwether, were of Welsh and English ancestry, respectively. After Lewis' father died from pneumonia, his mother and stepfather, Captain John Marks, moved him and his siblings to Georgia in what is now Oglethorpe County.
Lewis spent his childhood in Georgia building his hunting skills and spending most of his time outdoors. However, once he reached his early teens, he wo
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1. Lewis first met Clark after being court-martialed by the Army.
Lewis (L) and Clark (R).
While serving as a frontier army officer in 1795, a young Meriwether Lewis was court-martialed for allegedly challenging a lieutenant to a duel during a drunken dispute. The 21-year-old was found not guilty of the charges, but his superiors decided to transfer him to a different rifle company to avoid any future incidents. His new commander turned out to be William Clark—the man who would later join him on his journey to the West.
2. Lewis had served as Thomas Jefferson’s secretary.
In 1801, Lewis left the army and accepted an invitation to serve as Thomas Jefferson’s presidential secretary. Lewis had known Jefferson since he was a boy—he’d grown up on a Virginia plantation only a few miles from Monticello—and the pair went on to forge a mentor-protégé relationship while working together in the White House. When Jefferson conceived of his grand expedition to the West in 1802, he imme
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Meriwether Lewis
American explorer and Governor (1774–1809)
Meriwether Lewis | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Charles Wilson Peale, c. 1807 | |
| In office March 3, 1807 – October 11, 1809 | |
| Appointed by | Thomas Jefferson |
| Preceded by | James Wilkinson |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Howard |
| In office 1803–1806 | |
| President | Thomas Jefferson |
| Preceded by | Corps commissioned |
| Succeeded by | Corps disbanded |
| In office 1801–1803 | |
| President | Thomas Jefferson |
| Preceded by | William Smith Shaw |
| Succeeded by | Lewis Harvie |
| Born | (1774-08-18)August 18, 1774 Locust Hill Plantation, Albemarle County, Colony of Virginia(now Ivy, Virginia) |
| Died | October 11, 1809(1809-10-11) (aged 35) Hickman County, Tennessee, U.S. (now near Hohenwald, Tennessee) |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
| Occupation | Explorer, soldier, politician |
| Signature | |
| Branch/service | Infantry |
| Years of service | 1795–1807 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Legion of the United States
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