Day-by-Day / March 4, 1803

March 4, 1803

Jefferson's secret plans

Washington, DC Louis-André Pichon, secretary to the French legation to the United States, explains with remarkable detail and accuracy Jefferson’s secret plans for the Western Expedition.

Lewis’s French Passport

Citizen Minister [Charles Talleyrand],

Georgetown 13 Ventose Year 11 [4 march 1803]

For a long time Mr. Jefferson has been concerned with the means of exploring the sources of the Missouri beyond which he supposes must be found those of the river Origan which flows into the Pacific Ocean, and of which only the mouth is known; I believe that is the river named, if I am not mistaken, the river Columbia by the explorer McKenzie.

. . . . .

He [Jefferson] explained his purpose to me, on the big map by Arrow Smith.

. . . the expedition is entrusted to a Capt. Merrywether [Meriwether Lewis]; I have not been able to determine the number of men who are accompanying him. The President told me that it would be eight or ten, if my memory is correct. The travelers must return by sea. They will find an opportunity on the Northwest coast, even by American ships.

Citizen Minister, accept my respects,

L. A. Pichon[1]Louis-André Pichon to Charles Maurice Talleyrand in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, … Continue reading

The details in Pichon’s letter were known only within President Jefferson‘s innermost circle. The official public story was that the Western Expedition would explore the Mississippi. See Jefferson’s Secrecy.

Also related: Mackenzie’s Canada Crossing | Prior Columbia Explorations | The Personnel Plan | The Empty Anchorage

Pichon’s Ask

Pichon to James Madison (1802)

Handwritten letter with the signature of Louis-André Pichon

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. “Letter from From Louis-André Pichon” New York Public Library Digital Collections, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/30151560-8ee5-0132-9f18-58d385a7b928 accessed 8 May 2022.

In his letter to James Madison, Louis-André Pichon discusses the detainment of some American sailors in Barbados. The portion shown above reads,

My present difficulties have nearly broke my heart both as a french man and as the agent of my country.

If it could be by any means obtained could not, Sir, the Government put in my hands the whole amount of the claims. I will pay Mr < Cheriot?> immediately <on> my bill. I beg, sir you will accept of the assurance of my sincere regard and respect.

L. A. Pichon[2]2 April 1802, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-03-02-0113 accessed 8 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, … Continue reading

 

Notes

Notes
↑1 Louis-André Pichon to Charles Maurice Talleyrand in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 22–23.
↑2 2 April 1802, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-03-02-0113 accessed 8 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 3, 1 March–6 October 1802, ed. David B. Mattern, J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, and Susan Holbrook Perdue [Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995], 95–96.]

Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).