Biographical Notes
William Clark
On October 10, 1806, Clark resigned his commission and on October 21 he and Lewis departed St. Louis for Washington D.C. Both men visited their homes on the way. Lewis reported to Jefferson on December 28. Clark arrived later. In March 1807 Lewis was appointed governor of Louisiana and Clark was appointed militia brigadier general and given command of the Louisiana militia. Clark was also named principal Indian agent for Louisiana. Jefferson tried to commission Clark a lieutenant colonel in the regular army, but senior army personnel opposed the commission and congress would not agree. Both men were given double pay for their time on the expedition and each received a grant of 1,600 acres of land in the Louisiana Territory. On March 15 Clark announced his engagement to fifteen year old Julia Hancock. Julia's father was George Hancock, a former Federalist congressman. Lewis and Clark both considered themselves to be Republicans. In April 1807 Clark returned to St. Louis and assumed his duties as head of the militia and principal Indian agent for Louisiana. On January 5, 1808 Clark married Julia Hancock at Louisville. Their first child, Meriwether Lewis Clark, was born on January 10, 1809. In March 1809 Clark joined with Manuel Lisa, Pierre Chouteau, Auguste Pierre Chouteau, Pierre Menard, William Morrison, Andrew Henry, Sylvestre Labbadie, Benjamin Wilkinson, and Reuben Lewis to form the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company. Governor Lewis then contracted with them to deliver the Indian chief Sheheke to his home in the Mandan Villages on the Upper Missouri River. This contract covered most of the startup costs for the company's first fur trapping expedition and later generated charges of conflict of interest, particularly in as much as Clark acted as the company's St. Louis agent.
In the spring of 1809 it was feared that the Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa were succeeding in uniting the Indian Nations and would rise up and attack all settlers occupying traditional Indian hunting grounds. Clark called up the local militia, but the citizenry of St. Louis demanded that Washington send federal troops to deal with the threat. In August 1809 the Secretary of War, William Eustis, criticized Lewis's contract with the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company and informed him that the government would not honor a number of his claims for reimbursement. On September 4, 1809, a very distraught Lewis left St. Louis for Washington D.C. to deal with the matter in person. On October 10 Lewis committed suicide at Grinder's Stand seventy miles south of Nashville. Clark traveled to Monticello to discuss the printing of report of the Voyage of Discovery with former President Jefferson. Lewis had been responsible for the task but had not managed to get it done. Clark recovered the necessary documents from Lewis's effects and arranged for Nicolas Biddle to take the lead in editing the journals and overseeing the printing of the report. He also met with President Madison and was offered the position of Governor of Louisiana. Clark declined and Benjamin Howard was selected to replace Lewis in St. Louis. In December 1810 Clark completed a map of the area that he and Lewis had explored. It was the most accurate then available. Hostile Indian activity continued to be a problem for Clark and occupied much of his attention in St. Louis.
William Henry Harrison led a mixed regular army and militia force against Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa in 1811. On November 7 in the Battle of Tippecanoe Creek, Tecumseh's followers were dispersed. Following the battle, Harrison burned Prophetstown and declared victory. Some historians dispute that the battle was a victory and call Tippecanoe the opening battle of the War of 1812, but the general reaction on the frontier at the time was that it was a great victory over hostile Indians and should be emulated elsewhere. Although Clark was not adverse to using force where he felt it was necessary, he counseled patience and was more solicitous of Indian needs than many in St. Louis felt was appropriate. In 1811 the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company was not doing well and was reorganized into the Missouri Fur Company with Clark serving as president of the board of directors and Manuel Lisa the chief trader. About this time Clark legally adopted Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Toussaint Charbonneau and his Indian wife Sacagawea. Charbonneau had been Lewis and Clark's chief interpreter during the Voyage of Discovery. On June 18, 1812, Congress declared war on Great Britain. In 1812 the Missouri Territory was created and in 1813 Clark was appointed territorial governor. He was now the most powerful U.S. official in the western United States. On October 5, 1813, in the Battle of Thames River in Ontario troops led by Harrison defeated a combined British Indian force and killed Tecumseh. About this time the two volume "History of the Expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark" was published. Too much time had passed and the public was distracted by the war - the "History" did not sell well.
On January 1, 1814, Julia gave birth to their first daughter, Mary Margaret. Hostile Indians still threatened St. Louis and Missouri and the citizenry still clamored for the protection of more federal troops. After Andrew Jackson defeated a hostile band of Creek Indians at Horseshoe Bend in Alabama the cry went up for similar action in Missouri. A particularly active British agent, Robert Dickson, was thought to be planning to lead hostile Winnebago Indians in an attack on St. Louis and Clark led 200 troops to Prairie du Chien to meet the threat. Dickson retreated but Clark captured some of his papers that confirmed his intentions. Clark constructed Fort Shelby at Prairie du Chien, garrisoned it with 135 soldiers and returned to St. Louis. On July 17, 1814, a combined British and Winnebago Indian force of about 650 men laid siege to Fort Shelby. On July 19 the fort was taken and the survivors were permitted to return to St. Louis. Clark was criticized by Secretary of War, John Armstrong, for attempting to establish a military post deep in enemy territory that could not be supported. Sauk and Fox Indians led by Black Hawk were also active at the time. In August Black Hawk defeated Major Zachary Taylor's attack on his home village of Saukenuk at the mouth of the Rock River. That same month the British burned Washington D.C. With inadequate forces available to defend Missouri, Clark decided that he had to arm friendly Indians and use them to attack those tribes that were unfriendly. Manuel Lisa and Auguste Pierre Chouteau were appointed special Indian agents and instructed to arm friendly Osage, Shawnee, and Delaware Indians and use them to attack those unfriendly tribes being organized by British agents.
