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William Clark 1770-1838
Together with
Meriwether Lewis,
explorer William Clark saw quite a bit of the country. Their famous expedition to the Pacific Northwest took
place 1804 until 1806.
William Clark's Family
William's father was John Clark.
His mother was Ann Rogers.
John and Ann had 10 children. William was number nine. William's
brother George became famous during the
American Revolution.
In 1808, William married 16 year old Julia Hancock and
produced five kids. The eldest son was named Meriwether Lewis
Clark.
Julia died in 1821 and William married the widow
Harriet Kennerly Radford.
William Clark's Career
In 1789, William joined the militia, a little bit later the army.
George Washington
made him lieutenant.
In 1794, William fought in the Battle of
Fallen Timbers. William went back home in 1796 to check on his
parents.
In 1803, old buddy Meriwether asked William to join an
adventure. And off they went on May 14, 1804.
WILLIAM CLARK
Click image to enlarge
The Expedition
William had a blast. In fact, he might or might not have fathered
Daytime Smoker, son of the daughter of Chief Red Grizzly Bear.
In 1807,
Thomas
Jefferson made William brigadier general and federal Indian
agent.
In 1812,
James Monroe made him governor of Missouri.
Controversy
William Clark was criticized by quite a
number of contemporaries. They complained that he was too friendly with Native Americans.
On the other hand, there were reports that many Native Americans
experienced severe losses because of Clark's orders.
And then there's also
the account of William Clark's slave York...
See also the
American Timeline.
More History
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