Day-by-Day / July 5, 1803

July 5, 1803

Lewis sets out

Meriwether Lewis leaves Washington City bound for the Harpers Ferry Armory. At Frederick, Maryland, he hires a wagoneer to take the expedition’s goods from the armory to Pittsburgh.

Harpers Ferry Armory

by Carol Stuart Watson

Illustration of gunsmiths working in a large Harpers Ferry shop

Harpers Ferry Center Commissioned Art Collection (IMS 02853).

Lewis’s delays in shipping enabled him to test his new guns and other items made at the armory (see July 7, 1803).

Lewis Leaves Washington

Washington July 5. 1803.

Dear Sir

On the evening of the 3d inst. we recieved a letter from mr King (arrived at N. York) covering one from Livingston & Monroe to him in which they informed him that on the 30th. of April they signed a treaty with France, ceding to us the island of N. Orleans and all Louisiana as it had been held by Spain. the price is not mentioned . . . . it is something larger than the whole US. probably containing 500 millions of acres, the US. containing 434. millions. this removes from us the greatest source of danger to our peace.

my tenderest love to my dear Martha, kisses to the young ones, & affectionate attachment to yourself.

Th: Jefferson

P.S. Capt. Lewis set out on his journey to-day.[1]Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0505 accessed 11 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas … Continue reading

Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. was married to Jefferson’s oldest daughter, Martha and at the time, a U.S. Representative from Virginia.
Related: Louisiana’s Political Geography

Frederick Wagoneer

12. O,Clock. Harper’s Ferry July 8th. 1803.

Dear Sir,

on the evening of the 5th. at Fredericktown I engaged a person with a light two horse-waggon who promised to set out with them this morning, in this however he has disappointed me . . . .

Your friend & Obt. Servt.

Meriwether Lewis[2]Meriwether Lewis to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0521 accessed on 11 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas … Continue reading

Lewis passed through Frederick on his way to Harpers Ferry. This would be the second wagoneer to fail to deliver the armory’s goods to Pittsburgh.

 

Notes

Notes
↑1 Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0505 accessed 11 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 40, 4 March–10 July 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 660–662.]
↑2 Meriwether Lewis to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0521 accessed on 11 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 40, 4 March–10 July 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 680–681.]

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).