William Clark made his mark in history as a brave explorer and accomplished cartographer. Image © 2002 www.clipart.com.

History will always remember Capt. William Clark for his epic exploration of the American West with Meriwether Lewis, but the map of the United States might look very different were it not for Clark's contributions to American Indian diplomacy.

After the Corps of Discovery returned, Clark spent years as an administrator of Indian affairs in the Louisiana and Missouri territories. He was known as a friend of the Indians who balanced their interests with those of the U.S. government. His efforts laid the groundwork for the early years of American westward expansion.

A Gentleman and a Frontiersman
Clark, like Lewis, was a Virginian. He was born into a notable plantation owner's family on Aug. 1, 1770, near Charlottesville. He was of Scottish ancestry, the son of John and Ann Rogers Clark and the ninth of 10 children. He was the youngest of six sons and a brother of George Rogers Clark, an American Revolutionary War hero. Though he had little formal education, he was trained in the manners of a Virginia gentleman of his day, riding, hunting, surveying, and managing an estate.

At 14 Clark moved with his family to a new plantation near present-day Louisville, KY. Their home was called Mulberry Hill. Clark grew up on the Kentucky frontier. As a young man, he was 6-foot tall, red-haired, and seemed to be more suited to the life of a frontiersman than a Virginia planter. Indeed, he spent the rest of his life in one way or another on America's ever-expanding frontier.

Clark joined the militia at 19, serving in campaigns against the Indians of the Ohio Valley. In 1792 he transferred to the regular army, advancing to the rank of lieutenant. He lived in the field with the western army in Ohio and Indiana, where he learned the practical principles of military command, engineering, construction, and topography. He learned how to build forts, draw maps, lead pack trains through enemy country, and fight the Indians on their ground. He also learned wilderness survival and a curiosity and respect for the Indians he encountered.

By 1795 he had received promotions to leadership positions, eventually attaining the rank of captain. Ensign Meriwether Lewis was among the men assigned to Clark. The two struck up a lasting friendship.

Resigning his commission in 1796, Clark returned to Mulberry Hill to manage the plantation. When his father died in 1799 and his mother the next year, William inherited Mulberry Hill and most of the family's slaves and debts even though he was not the eldest son. He subsequently sold the homestead to his brother, Jonathan, in 1800 and moved to Clarksville in the Indiana Territory with his brother, George Rogers.

The Partnership
On June 19, 1803, a letter arrived from Lewis, the young officer who had served under Clark in the western army. Lewis was inviting Clark to share command of the government-sponsored Corps of Discovery commissioned by President Jefferson. Lewis wanted Clark to help recruit able-bodied, qualified men to enlist in the Corps. Lewis, with Jefferson's agreement, offered Clark a permanent commission as captain.

Sending a letter to Lewis in Pittsburgh, where he was gathering boats and supplies for the journey, Clark wrote, "My friend I assure you no man lives with whome I would perfur to undertake Such a Trip&c as your self."

The United States had just purchased the Louisiana Territory, and Jefferson was eager to establish an American presence in the far northwest as well as to locate a water passage to the Pacific. Jefferson charged Lewis and Clark with reporting on the culture, commerce, and capabilities of the Natives along the route and to observe and collect botanical and biological specimens.

Clark eagerly accepted Lewis' invitation. On Sept. 19, 1803, Clark wrote in his journal, "This very day I got a letter from Lewis asking me to go on a long and dangerous journey to map out the land and discover an over land route to the pacific ocean for Thomas Jefferson. I would love to go for I am good with the out doors. He also said he needs men lots of them. He needs lots of multi tasked men to cook, build, hunt and most of all he needs me. He says we will be equal partners for the whole time. We will bring goods to trade with the tribes for horses. We will also need food, boats and guns. All of this will cost a lot of money for such a long trip. We will depart on May 5th 1804!"

He was promised a captaincy by Lewis, and he received the same pay and recognition as a captain. However, when the commission was finally received, it was for a second lieutenant. Lewis never made public to the Corps that Clark was not officially a captain. In Lewis' eyes Clark was an equal.

The Journey Begins
After several months of studying astronomy and map making, Clark joined Lewis as Lewis traveled by keelboat down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh. Together they spent the winter of 1803-1804 near St. Louis, where they made final preparations for the journey. In the spring they set out up the Missouri, reaching the Mandan villages in present-day North Dakota by October.

Their stay that winter with the Mandans made it quite clear just how much Lewis and Clark would need to rely on the goodwill of Indian peoples for their success. During the trip Clark played a significant role in developing relations with Indians. He was skilled at getting information from Native tribes, which he recorded in his journals and sketches. With less formal education than Lewis, Clark filled his journal with frequent grammatical and spelling errors and long, confusing sentences.

Clark was also a keen observer and recorder of Indian culture, religion, and customs. Mindful of the importance Sacagawea's presence had in ensuring good relations with the Indian peoples, Clark noted in his journal, "We find (that she) reconciles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentions—a woman with a party of men is a token of peace."

The expedition's 28-month trek from St. Louis to the Pacific and back is considered very successful largely because of the capable, complimentary leadership provided by the two men. Clark's role was cartographer and artist of the expedition. He sketched in great detail the animals and plants observed. The captains' journals include accounts of many remarkable adventures. Clark was credited with rescuing the expedition from disaster on more than one occasion.

When the expedition ended, President Jefferson awarded Clark 1,600 acres of public land. It took about a month to close the affairs of the expedition, and then, with packhorses carrying zoological and botanical specimens, Lewis and Clark set out for Washington. At Louisville Clark and his slave, York, stayed behind to visit relatives. Clark arrived in Washington after the formal celebration and stayed seven weeks.

The St. Louis Years
In 1807 Jefferson appointed Clark brigadier general of militia and superintendent of Indian affairs for the Louisiana Territory. One of the biggest problems Clark encountered was the administration of the Indian department that controlled Indian trade. Some traders tried to cheat Indians and the government of profits. Clark was ultimately successful in controlling these problems while maintaining a consistent policy with the Indians for the next 30 years.

Shortly after his return from the expedition, Clark married 16-year-old Julia Hancock on Jan. 5, 1808. They had five children, the eldest of whom was named Meriwether Lewis Clark.

In Louisville on Oct. 11, 1809, the Clark family was told of Lewis' death. Clark traveled to Washington to pay his respects to the grieving Jefferson and Lewis family members. He would later go to Philadelphia to arrange rewriting of their journals, which were finally published in 1814 with Clark's maps as a supplement.

The Clarks called St. Louis home. He held several political offices and was involved in the fur trade and real estate. In 1813 he was appointed first governor of the newly created Missouri Territory and was reappointed three times until Missouri became a state in 1821. He ran for governor of the new state in 1820 but lost. His campaign that year was hindered by Julia's illness. She died during the campaign on a trip to Kentucky. She was only 28.

Another reason cited for Clark's loss was his support of the "factory system" of trade with the Indians. This system was administered through a chain of 28 government-owned and -operated stores, run by men called "factors." The system was established to offset the influence of the English and Spanish over the Indian tribes, to promote peace on the frontier, and to protect the Indians from exploitation by private traders. Clark believed that abolishing the factory system would jeopardize the good relationships he had with Indian leaders.

Clark recovered from his political defeat and the death of his wife and married Harriet Kennerly Radford, a widow who was also a cousin of his first wife. He put his energies into the administration of Indian affairs in the West. Clark's diplomatic skills contributed to a long peace with many tribes. The Indians considered him a friend and advocate. He was committed to obtaining as much justice for them as possible. When his name was on messages to the Indians, it provided the protection of the government to men who were fur trading.

Known as the "red-haired chief," he was often called upon by tribal delegations at his home in St. Louis. The visiting delegations gave him presents of weapons, clothing, handicrafts, and ceremonial items that he displayed in an Indian museum next to his St. Louis home. This priceless exhibition was loaned for exhibition in Germany before Clark's death and was lost or destroyed in the 1830s.

On Sept. 1, 1838, William Clark died at the age of 69 after a brief illness in his son's home in St. Louis. He was buried with Masonic and military honors on his nephew's farm outside the city.

Clark developed a reputation for fairness and honesty with whites and Indians alike. His peaceable efforts helped to create a favorable climate for westward expansion. A well-deserved place in history is reserved for Clark as an explorer, but his efforts as a diplomat and peacemaker in the American West should also be recognized.

On Jan. 17, 2001, days before he left office, President Clinton met with Payton and John Clark, both direct descendants of William Clark. In a White House ceremony Clinton conferred posthumously upon William Clark his captain's commission that had been denied nearly two centuries before. It was a just reward for a man whose name symbolizes the most renowned exploration in American history.

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