Meriwether Lewis

Born August 18, 1774

Albemarle County, Virginia

Died October 11, 1809

Tennessee

William Clark

Born August 1, 1770

Caroline County, Virginia

Died September 1, 1838

St. Louis, Missouri

Explorers

Lewis and Clark's discoveries whet the nation's appetite for information about the West.

Between 1804 and 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the most famous expedition in American history. They were the first Americans to record the riches of the continent's interior. Publication of the expedition's discoveries provided vital information to those who followed in their footsteps, and it stirred the imaginations of people living in the East. Lewis and Clark's discoveries whet the nation's appetite for information about the West.

Friends on the Frontier

Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, on August 18, 1774. Lewis's father was killed in the Revolutionary War (1776–83), when Lewis was five years old. Lewis finished his formal schooling at the age of...