William Clark

William Clark (born August 1, 1770 in Caroline County , Colony of Virginia , † September 1, 1838 in St. Louis , Missouri ) was an explorer who accompanied Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition . He was the younger brother of a participant of the American Revolutionary War , George Rogers Clark .

Life

William Clark was the ninth of ten children. In 1785 the family moved from Virginia to Louisville , Kentucky . After his brother George joined the army, William Clark followed him and took part in various local military campaigns. In 1792 he was appointed lieutenant in the regular army and assigned to General Anthony Wayne's regiment. He served for four years and took a. a. participated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers against Native Americans. During his military service, Meriwether Lewis was also under his command for a while.

In 1796, Clark left the army and spent the time on his Louisville estate and traveling. In 1803 Lewis asked him if he wanted to take over command of the newly formed Discovery Corps with him. They then spent three years on the Lewis and Clark Expedition , which stretched from the mouth of the Missouri into the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean and back. Although Clark was formally subordinate to Lewis, he tended to lead command on an equal footing. He mainly focused on drawing maps and identifying plants and animals. After returning in 1806, he spent a lot of time consolidating the information he had gathered.

Clark was made Brigadier General of the Militia and, in 1807, Inspector of Native American Affairs in the Louisiana Territory . He set up his headquarters in St. Louis. On January 5, 1808, he married Julia Hancock. A son was later born to them, whom they named in honor of his father's partner Meriwether Lewis Clark . During the war of 1812 he led many actions and established the first outpost in what is now Wisconsin . When the Missouri Territory was formed in 1813 , Clark was appointed governor .

After the war, Clark returned to his Indian affairs administrative role and took various diplomatic and military measures in response to several inquiries in the area. In addition, he worked as a land surveyor.

After his death on September 1, 1838, he was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, where a ten-meter high obelisk made of gray granite marks his grave. Although his family had deposited money to maintain the grave site, it fell into disrepair by the late 20th century. His descendants raised $ 100,000 to restore the grave site and celebrated the restoration of the grave on May 21, 2004, the 200th anniversary of the start of the expedition. The celebration was attended by a large number of his descendants, people in ancient costumes, leaders from the Osage Indian tribe and the Lemhi Band from the Northern Shoshone tribe .

The plant genus Clarkia from the family of the evening primrose family (Onagraceae) and the pine jay ( Clark's Nutcracker ) is named after him.

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personal data
SURNAME	Clark, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American soldier and explorer, member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
DATE OF BIRTH	August 1, 1770
PLACE OF BIRTH	Caroline County , Colony of Virginia
DATE OF DEATH	September 1, 1838
Place of death	St. Louis , Missouri