CONGRATULATIONS TO L. FRANK AND DENMOTHER ON THE FTF!!
In the summer of 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte sold to us for 15 million dollars, the land known as the country of Louisiana. The territory of more than one million square miles was made up of all that part of the continent west of the Mississippi River, up to the British land to the north, and the Spanish dominions on the South & West. It included the regions that now lie in the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, part of Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, S. Dakota, N. Dakota, Wyoming, part of Idaho & all of Montana.
Almost nothing was known of the region. No white man had explored the area. The many tribes of Indians living in the interior had never seen a white man. In 1792, Captain Gray, exploring the Pacific Coast in his ship “Columbia” of Boston, had discovered the entrance to a river that he named after his ship. President Jefferson desired to establish a fur-trading post on the western coast of America and to claim the Oregon territory for the U.S. He proposed an expedition, which came to be known as the Corps of Discovery, that would ascend the Missouri, cross the Rocky Mountains and reach the Pacific coast by the Columbia River, and asked Congress to appropriate money for the expedition ($2500.00). He selected 29 year-old Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition. Lewis then chose his friend, 33 year-old Lieutenant William Clark to be his equal partner. The rest of the expedition was comprised of 26 men. Toussaint Charbonneau, a fur trader, and his Indian wife Sacagawea joined them later. Sacagawea performed an invaluable role as an interpreter for the Indian tribes they met.
The expedition began in May of 1804 near St. Louis, and during the next 28 months traveled over 8,000 miles, reaching the Oregon coast in November 1805, and returning to St. Louis September 1806. Clark served as mapmaker, navigator and in his journals he seemed to be talented at providing care to the medical needs of the Native Americans they met along the way. “The Story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition”, by Noah Brooks, is an excellent unabridged republication of “First Across the Continent: The Story of the Exploring Expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1803-4-5” first published in 1901, and gives a wonderful description of the expedition, using many passages from the expedition’s journals.
Post-expedition, in 1807, William Clark was appointed as Brigadier General of the militia in the Louisiana Territory. He was later appointed Missouri territorial governor and superintendant of Indian affairs. He served in the capacity of directing Indian Affairs until his death in 1838. Clark was married twice, having five children with his first wife Julia Hancock. After her death, he married Harriet Kennerly Radford and had 3 more children.
William Clark died in St. Louis, Sept 1, 1838 at age 68. He was originally buried at his nephew John O’Fallon’s property, but later, in 1860 was moved to Bellefontaine Cemetery where a 35-foot gray granite obelisk was erected to mark his grave. Clark’s son, Jefferson Kearney Clark designed the present monument, which was dedicated in 1904 on the centennial anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Over the years, it fell into disrepair. Clark’s descendents raised $100,000 to restore and rehabilitate the monument and it was rededicated May 21, 2004 on the bicentennial of the Corps of Discovery’s departure from St. Louis. Several members of Clark’s family are also buried in the area.
Now for the rules of this virtual geocache: In order to claim it you must answer the following questions, and send me your answers. You do not have to wait for my reply to log your find, but if there is a problem with your response, I will contact you.
1. At the foot of the historical site marker #12, there is a headstone. Whose name is on it?
2. As you face the front of the monument, to your right, is a monument with a female figure standing by a cross. Whose name is on that monument, and what does the inscription on the front of the pedestal of that monument say?
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.