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Show Historians Given Unpublished Letters Written by Explorer Meriwether Lewis Hitherto unknown or unconfirmed uncon-firmed sidelights on the life of Meriwether Lewis, co-explorer with William Clark of the Northwest, have been revealed with the bequest be-quest to the Missouri Historical society so-ciety of unpublished letters written by the great explorer and scout, according ac-cording to a St. Louis United Press correspondent in the Detroit Free Press. Scholars have been working on the letters and documents, which were given to the society by the late Dr. Meriwether Lewis Anderson, a descendant of Lewis. Anderson died at Richmond, Va. Included in the group are numerous numer-ous letters written by the explorer to his mother. One, written in 1795. when he was twenty, was in a semi-apologetic semi-apologetic tone for his seeming inability in-ability to stay home. He had enlisted enlist-ed with some Virginia troops at the time, and wrote: "So violently opposed is my governing gov-erning passion for rambling to the wishes of all my friends, that I am led intentionally to err and then have vanity enough to hope for forgiveness. for-giveness. , "I dn not know how to account for this Quixotic disposition of mine in any other manner or its being inflicted in-flicted by any other cause than that of having inherited it in right of the Meriwether family." He asked his mother to forgive him on that basis; then promised to let her know of his whereabouts "by every opportunity." One of the prizes of the new additions addi-tions to the society's already large collection of Lewis-Clark material is a letter written by Lewis to his mother in July, 1303. less than a year before he departed on the expedition ex-pedition which was to make his name prominent in the history of American exploration. Regarding his prospects with optimism, op-timism, he wrote: "The nature of this expedition is by no means dangerous." He assured her that the route was to be "altogether through tribes of Indians who are perfectly friendly to the United States. For its fatigues I feel myself perfectly prepared, nor do I doubt my health and strength of constitution to bear it I go with the utmost preconviction in my mind of returning safe." His preconviction proved reliable, but he and his small band of companions com-panions did not make the journey without hardship. The expedition did not turn out to be "by no means dangerous" nor were the Indians always al-ways "perfectly friendly." Lewis and Clark started from a point near St. Louis early in 1804. They were gone nearly two and one-half one-half years. With the object of learning learn-ing something of the possibilities of the half-unknown Louisiana Purchase Pur-chase which Thomas Jefferson had made, the two men followed the Missouri river to its sources and beyond, be-yond, up to the Pacific ocean. They returned to St Louis in the early autumn of 1806. |