Person:William Clark (249)

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William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Missouri.

Along with Meriwether Lewis, Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806 across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean, the first major effort to explore and map much of what is now the Western United States and to assert American claims to the Pacific Northwest. Before the expedition, he served in a militia and the United States Army. Afterward, he served in a militia and as governor of the Missouri Territory. From 1822 until his death in 1838, he served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Note of Caution

There are 3 William Clarks who lived in a similar time and place who are often confused by researchers:

• Judge William Clark of the Indiana Territory,
• Gov. William Clark of Missouri, and
• William Clark, surveyor-in-chief of Clark's Grant.

1.   William Clark, in Virginia Center for Digital History.

   "Clark and Lewis corresponded occasionally during the years between Clark's retirement from military life and Lewis's further military career and service as Jefferson's private secretary. During those years, Clark also met and married Julia Hancock, several years his junior, whom he met when she was 12 years old, and he decided he would marry her on her fifteenth birthday."

2.   Family Recorded, in English, William Hayden. Conquest of the country northwest of the river Ohio, 1778-1783, and life of Gen. George Rogers Clark: with numerous sketches of men who served under Clark, and full list of those allotted lands in Clark's Grant for service in the campaigns against the British posts, showing exact land allotted each. (Indianapolis, Indiana: Bowen-Merrill Co., 1896)
   991-1019.
3.   Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.