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(1774-1809)

Who Was Meriwether Lewis?

Born in 1774 in Virginia, Meriwether Lewis was asked by President Thomas Jefferson in 1801 to act as his private secretary.

Jefferson soon made Lewis another offer — to lead an expedition into the lands west of the Mississippi, which he did after enlisting William Clark. With the help of Sacagawea, the team successfully reached the Pacific Ocean in November of 1805.

Their journey was famously known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Early Life

Lewis was born on August 18, 1774, near Ivy, Virginia.

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His parents, Lt. William Lewis of Locust Hill and Lucy Meriwether, were of Welsh and English ancestry, respectively. After Lewis' father died from pneumonia, his mother and stepfather, Captain John Marks, moved him and his siblings to Georgia in what is now Oglethorpe County.

Lewis spent his childhood in Georgia building his hunting skills and spending most of his time outdoors.

However, once he reached his early teens, he wo