Soldiers and Explorers

Early Years.

The names of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark survive as perhaps the most famous pair in American history. Yet beneath the legacy surrounding their 1804-1806 expedition and the partnership that directed it lay a friendship between the two men whose names have become indissolubly linked. Although Lewis and Clark both descended from prominent Virginia families, they did not meet until adulthood. Clark's family (which included his brother, George Rogers Clark, a famed Revolutionary War general) had moved to Kentucky in the 1770s. Following their formal education, Lewis and Clark enlisted for military service. While campaigning with Gen. Anthony Wayne in 1795, they served in the same unit and became friends. Both developed reputations as efficient commanders and hardened outdoorsmen although Clark's skills in surveying and water navigation outpaced those of Lewis. Their mutual acquaintance with Thomas...