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Story Archives: Surveyor & future explorer William Clark visits Natchez
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Surveyor & future explorer William Clark visits Natchez
 (11th in a series)
When the Mississippi Territory was formed by Congress in 1798 and Natchez designated as the capital, you never knew who you might find arriving at the landing under-the-hill. Politicians, explorers, land speculators, Indians, prostitutes, opportunists, merchants, dreamers, misfits and travelers were in the mix.
One was 28-year-old William Clark.
A Virginian by birth, Clark had grown up in Kentucky and had fought in the decisive American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 against Native Americans in Ohio country. Two years later he left the army and returned to civilian life. In 1798, he was at a crossroads in his life when he arrived in Natchez.
Little did he know that just eight years later he would begin one of the most extraordinary journeys of his life. He and Meriweather Lewis would lead what became known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, exploring and mapping the far-reaches of the Louisiana Purchase while finding a land-water route to the Pacific Ocean.
But before that, Clark made a river voyage in 1798 from his Louisville home to Natchez and Spanish New Orleans to sell tobacco and other trade goods. The research of Jo Ann (Jan) Trogdon of Missouri, who is writing a book about Clark, details his visit to Natchez and to the south where a new boundary line was being marked by American and Spanish surveyors.
Trogdon says Clark "landed his flatboats at Natchez on April 15, 1798, and stayed until the next day, writing nothing more than that he had arrived there and left. Since the ledger section of his journal shows he spent a few dollars there, I'm surmising he paid for room and board somewhere in town.
"He returned to Natchez by horseback on July 1 and stayed until the 8th, again spending money commensurate with lodging/boarding for that length of time. While in town he bought a hat and blankets and shot billiards. He also sold two horses and bought a pirogue in which he'd paddle back to New Orleans."
Among the men at the boundary camp at the time of Clark's visit was William Dunbar of Natchez, the inventor, scientist and planter. Dunbar would go on to lead another exploration connected with the Louisiana Purchase. He and Dr. George Hunter -- from October 1804 to January 1805 -- would explore the Ouachita River valley up to the hot springs in present day Arkansas.For the full story, subscribe to the The Concordia Sentinel's NEW E-Edition! |
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