William Clark

Who wouldn’t like to undertake the epic voyage, from 1804 to 1806, which saw these young explorers who, leaving from St. Louis, reached the Pacific coast, paving the mythical “Passage to the North-West”?

William Clark, born in Virginia in 1770, an ex-militiaman with Lewis, at the age of 14 had moved with his family to Kentucky. He was the son of one of the heroes of the Revolution, General George Rogers Clark, who had served under the famous General Mad Anthony Wayne during the Indian Wars in the old North West.

His infancy was marked by the Indian Wars and life on the frontier. Clark was a man experienced in expeditions, the one who found the solutions and, even though he had not received any formal education, was an excellent cartographer. He shared command with Lewis without any altercations and probably represented the element of emotional stability, even though he was a proud Virginia man. Despite agreeing with the opinions of Lewis and Jefferson regarding the Indians, who had to become civilized or disappear, it is evident that he felt some sympathy for them which is very different to the cold-heartedness of Lewis. The Indians called him the Red Head Chief because of the colour of his hair and they respected him. In contrast with Lewis, who had a more conflicting attitude, Clark considered himself a cultural mediator. After the voyage, Clark had a splendid career: he married a rich lady, went to live in St. Louis as General of the Militia. He became Superintendent for Indian Affairs and for 30 years he succeeded to maintain peace with the tribes. Considered as soft because of this, he lost the elections for governor of Missouri. He was and remained a convinced slave-owner: on returning home, he long refused to grant freedom to his slave York, who was with him since infancy and who had risked his life looking for him in a snowstorm. It was only after many years that he decided to set him free, though still convinced that freedom was no good for him. On his tombstone in St. Louis a sentence claims that it is possible to learn the about the life of the American nation through the life of Clark, who died in 1838. His life, according to the historian James Ronda, reflects the changes of a nation who is turning towards the West: he was, after all, the son of the American Revolution and a soldier of the Empire.