Meriwether Lewis

18 August 1774 – 11 October 1809

Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was an American soldier and explorer who co-led the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806), the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back. He later served as governor of the Louisiana Territory and died of gunshot wounds in 1809, most historians concluding by suicide.

Comparing
Compare

Lived at the same time

Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Meriwether Lewis.

Life events

Born near Charlottesville, Virginia
18 August 1774

Meriwether Lewis was born at the Locust Hill plantation in Albemarle County, Virginia, near the home of Thomas Jefferson.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Joined the Virginia militia during the Whiskey Rebellion
1794

Lewis volunteered for the militia force raised to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Commissioned in the United States Army
1795

Lewis transferred into the regular army, serving on the frontier and rising to the rank of captain by 1800; for a time he served in a company commanded by William Clark.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Became private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson
1801

President Jefferson appointed Lewis as his personal secretary, grooming him to lead an expedition to explore the West.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Departed with the Corps of Discovery up the Missouri River
14 May 1804

Lewis and William Clark led the Corps of Discovery out of Camp Dubois near St. Louis, beginning the expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase and find a route to the Pacific.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Reached the Pacific Ocean
November 1805

The expedition sighted the Pacific near the mouth of the Columbia River and wintered at Fort Clatsop in present-day Oregon.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Returned safely to St. Louis, completing the expedition
23 September 1806

After a journey of roughly 8,000 miles over 28 months, the Corps of Discovery arrived back in St. Louis with extensive maps and scientific and ethnographic records.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory
March 1807

Jefferson named Lewis governor of the Territory of Upper Louisiana, based in St. Louis, where his tenure was troubled by political disputes and financial difficulties.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Died at Grinder's Stand on the Natchez Trace, Tennessee
11 October 1809

While traveling to Washington, Lewis died of gunshot wounds at an inn on the Natchez Trace; most historians regard his death as suicide, though some have argued for murder.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓