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William Clark at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky 2007
By: Don Clare

The famous Lewis and Clark Expedition was over! On September 23rd of 1806, the national heroes (unbeknownst to them), returned to St. Louis. After two years of national concern, worry, despair and false assumption of a botched endeavor, the Corps of Discovery returned home to the eastern U.S. alive and well!

Instant National Heroes….Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark (actually only officially commissioned a lieutenant by the U.S.Army), largely given up for lost or dead by the general public, triumphantly returned. They were shocked to hear that they were given up for dead! They had been planning on sending back reports of their progress to the government all along, but their resources for getting any information back east proved lacking and the national dissemination of news and current events, other than word of mouth, at that time left a lot to be desired. Sure, they had some precarious moments and predicaments, but in their estimation, everything went as planned; mission accomplished!

After about a six week respite and a series of public appearances, celebrations and fancy socials and dinners in their honor in St. Louis, they made their way back to Louisville, home place of the Clark family since their relocation from Albemarle County, Virginia (where they were neighbors of Thomas Jefferson). There they enjoyed a period of R&R, attending to affairs of both public and personal business, before the two explorers, in early 1807, took separate and different paths and eventually made their way to Washington City (District of Columbia) where they met up again for an official debriefing with the President.

Most early biographers and historians of the Lewis and Clark Expedition had depicted Lewis as the intellectual, analytical, scientific, and authoritative member of the partnership, while William Clark was considered an equal in command, but the subordinate cartographer, geographer, disciplinarian, housekeeper, secretary, and ambassador to the various Native American groups encountered. His was the practical and utilitarian role from all outward appearances. This contrasting interpretation and treatment of the two explorers is generally attributed to Reuben Gold Thwaites, the author/historian and premiere researcher of the frontier history and western expansion of this young country. His interest was the early pioneer and frontiersman of the wilderness territory on the fringes of known civilization, which was now quickly becoming populated, settled and civilized. To him, William Clark represented the last of a dying breed, the buckskin-clad trailblazer. So he portrayed him in this manner to contrast him to the Eastern, gentrified, political figure which was quickly claiming the forefront. (Steffan, pp.43, 44)

After all, Meriwether Lewis was tutored and instructed by the leading naturalists, biologists, chemists, physicians, historians, mathematicians and physicists in this country, not to mention the ever constant tutelage of President Jefferson himself. Lewis served as Jefferson’s private secretary and consequently lived and dined with him years before the outset of the mission.

But let’s remember, William Clark’s background was one of military exploration and conquest, leadership, organization, direction and service to the Commander-In-Chief. Born and raised in Virginia, a close neighbor and acquaintance of Jefferson, William Clark was essentially a product of the Enlightenment influence in Virginia. His military experience was honed during his service during the Indian Wars, under the leadership of General Anthony Wayne. As a young, impressionable youth, he idolized his older brothers, all military leaders and fighting soldiers. General George Rogers Clark particularly intrigued young William and he emulated “The General’s” very persona and attributes. Despite his less formal education (all his siblings received a classical Virginia education) since his family relocated in wilderness Kentucky, William Clark was highly self-educated in the classics and sciences. As a matter of fact, his grammar and spelling were his only obvious deficits. He, too, was a man of the Enlightenment, but without all the polish. A highly skilled woodsman, hunter, explorer and pioneer, he was well rounded and balanced, not your typical gentry.

Jefferson knew what Clark was! He knew his background. He knew his capabilities. He knew his leadership abilities and he knew his penchant for science and natural history. That is why he had big plans for William now. He knew that he was the only person qualified and knowledgeable enough to address the importance and significance of the Pleistocene material strewn about the salt licks of Big Bone Lick, Kentucky. So he asked him to proceed to Big Bone Lick, Kentucky to oversee an organized recovery expedition for the prehistoric fragments and fossils known to be available at that site. The President had a specific ‘wish list’ for Clark to fill.

And Clark delivered! As a matter of fact, there were enough duplicate specimens for Jefferson to send a collection to the Cabinet of Natural History at Paris. In a letter to Monsieur De La Cepede dated Washington, July 14, 1808, Jefferson writes that “if my recollection does not deceive me, the collection of the remains of the animal incognitum of the Ohio (sometimes called mammoth)…is not very copious.” He goes on to explain “I have ately availed myself of an opportunity of collecting some of those remains. General Clarke (the companion of Governor Lewis in his expedition to the Pacific Ocean) being, on a late journey, to pass by the Big-bone Lick of the Ohio, was kind enough to undertake to employ for me a number of laborers, and to direct their operations in digging for these bones at this important deposit of them.”(Lipscomb&Bergh, Vol. XII, pp.83, 84). Jefferson had already crated and sent the Pleistocene specimens which he hand picked for the Institute of Paris along with some other specimens of curiosity obtained by Lewis and Clark on their western expedition. It is interesting to note that fourteen months later, on September 10, 1809 in a letter written from Monticello to William Clark, Jefferson follows up with some exciting news concerning Clark’s contribution of bones from Big Bone to international science. “Of those you had formerly sent me, I reserved a very few for myself; I got Dr. Wistar [one of America’s leading physicians and anatomists who would succeed Jefferson as president of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia] to select from the rest every piece which could be interesting to the Philosophical Society, and sent the residue to the National Institute of France. These have enabled them to decide that the animal was neither a mammoth nor an elephant, but of a distinct kind, to which they have given the name of Mastodont, from the protuberance of its teeth.”(Lipscomb&Bergh, Vol.XII, pp. 309,310). In other words, it was the specimens collected at Big Bone Lick by William Clark in 1807 that led to the identification of the American Incognitum (suggested reading: American Monster; Paul Semonin; 2000) as a distinct Ice Age mammal in its own right, a new species called Mammut americanum, or the American mastodon! The name comes from the two ancient Homeric Greek words, mastos (meaning breast or nipple) and odont (meaning tooth). The herbivorous browser mastodon had mound like protuberances on the surface of it molars which allowed the animal to eat small limbs and branches of trees and denser woody foliage. In contrast, the molars of the herbivorous grazer mammoth had a flat, smooth surface to accommodate the strictly grass eater’s diet. ‘

William Clark was recognized by Jefferson to be a true natural scientist. He understood the scientific method and the tenets of natural science. He had witnessed and absorbed the comprehensive natural science of the Louisiana Territory and he understood the importance and impact of its ramifications on this young autonomous country which suddenly more than doubled in size because of a fluke change in the military priorities and strategies of one Napoleon Bonaparte.

The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory actually occurred before the outset of the Corps of Discovery’s trek to the western starting point for the exploration. Owning the territory now indeed made it diplomatically more proper, but they were going to do it anyway, regardless. Control of the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans was paramount to the growth and success of the trade of the yeoman farmers and settlers of the current western frontier. Thanks to a fierce slave uprising and revolution in San Domingue (Haiti), Napoleon abandoned his plans for French domination of North America and the Louisiana Territory in order to concentrate his power and military forces there, at a devastating financial and human loss. The island, consisting of about 32,000 French ruling class, 28,000 free black middle class and over 500,000 African slaves, was one of France’s richest colonies. In short order, it would become only the second independent country in the New World (after the United States). It was the only one ever to result from an organized slave revolt by defeating a major military power.

We credit Jefferson for the Louisiana Purchase, but in reality, the deal was struck before he even knew about it. And it certainly wasn’t the result of superior foreign policy and negotiations on the part of the U.S. ambassadors. It was all due to the whim and snap decision of this most powerful world dictator of the time. It was simply his turn to move on that giant world-power chessboard.

All of the Corps of Discovery’s major objectives were met, except one. Lewis and Clark could not establish an all water route across the northwest to the Pacific shore. The Spanish knew that one did not exist, because they had already looked. So they readily granted permission to Jefferson to send his explorers across their Louisiana Territory. But by the time the Corps of Discovery was ready to embark, France gained possession from Spain. Now what? With Spain controlling the Mississippi and the port of New Orleans, the U.S. was assured unobstructed navigation rights to the Mississippi River and free trade in New Orleans. But with France controlling the Louisiana Territory, there would be no such guarantee. France would have completely restricted use of the river and port to choke off the British and their fur trade, also choking off the commerce of the U.S. producers. But now unobstructed travel down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the port of New Orleans was assured for the residents of the United States. Control of North American trade and commerce was now in the hands of the U.S., provided they could put a stop to the successful and long established British and Indian fur trade along and above the Missouri River.

The explorers were to meet and embrace all the Native American tribes they encountered, and begin to convince them that exclusive trade with the U.S. would soon be the projected situation. In so doing, Clark became the one the Indians trusted and preferred to deal with. They did not feel comfortable with Lewis. He was more demanding, theatrical, authoritative, domineering, impatient, belittling and condescending. But Clark, on the other hand was more down to earth, genuine, easy-going, attentive and empathetic. In true Reuben Gold Thwaites stereotype, he looked and acted more the part, whereas Lewis still carried that eastern colonial air about him. The tribes would specifically seek out Clark over Lewis. Clark thus became the expedition’s spokesman and negotiator; the liaison between the new great white father and his unsuspecting red children. Clark interviewed and recorded the responses to specifically prepared questions from Jefferson related to their social and religious customs and beliefs. He took notes relating to their languages and dialects. There were specific words he would have them translate into their language, looking for some common denominator that would lead to their ethnic ancestry and origins.

Clark was indeed the astute observer of nature and natural science. He was the meticulous recorder of what he observed, be it a written description, a narrative, a sketch or drawing, or a map. And he religiously recorded in his journals every night, so as not to leave out something important. Lewis, on the other hand, would go days, weeks, and sometimes months without so much as a word recorded.

Somewhere in the course of written history, Clark took on the persona of the frontiersman, or woodsman, the natural extension of the initial backwoodsman explorer. He became the good guy, the hero, the one to emulate and aspire to; luckily not to the Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett level, but none the less, he became a national legend and hero and spent the remainder of his career and life in the public eye as a civil servant. Maybe not intentionally, but the contemporary and later historians continued to depict Clark in this way, while they made Lewis more the aristocratic dandy, more aloof and above others. There may or may not be some truth to these character portraits. From the scholarly digestion of all the information available in the various comprehensive journals of the expedition, Clark appears to have been the mortar in the joints of this expedition. Maybe Jefferson realized this. After all, Jefferson once commented that Lewis suffered from periodic melancholy (depression), which seemed to be a trait in the Lewis family. Jefferson had been requested to compile a biographical sketch of Meriwether Lewis after his death. On April 13, 1813, from Monticello, Jefferson sent a letter and his sketch of Lewis to Mr. Paul Allen of Philadelphia. He wrote, “Governor Lewis had from early life been subject to hypochondriac affections. It was a constitutional disposition in all the nearer branches of the family of his name, and was more immediately inherited by him from his father.”(Lipscomb&Bergh, Vol. XVIII, pp.140, 159).

Lewis was most probably manic-depressive. And this would explain his long periods with no journal entries, his wanderings and side trips ahead of or away from the body of the Corps of Discovery; his preference for solitude; his abrupt reactions, bizarre behavior, fits of anger and aggression; all topped off by his apparent suicide. Jefferson was not surprised. “While he lived with me in Washington, I observed at times sensible depressions of mind, but knowing their constitutional source, I estimated their course by what I had seen in the family. During his western expedition, the constant exertion which that required of all the faculties of body and mind, suspended these distressing affections; but after his establishment at St. Louis in sedentary occupations, they returned upon him with redoubled vigor, and began seriously to alarm his friends.” (Lipscomb&Bergh, Vol. XVIII, p. 159). To make matters worse, he was also probably suffering from opiate addiction from the doses of laudanum, originally given to control the ever present chronic pain stemming from a gunshot wound to the buttocks he suffered on the return home from the western adventure, but now having become a more habitual use. On top of that, he was using alcohol much more heavily. And who knows what cumulative effects all the heavy metal poisoning from lead food containers and regular doses of mercury pills had upon his disposition of bipolar disease. He had every intention of finishing his journals, but could never get started. His chronic procrastination added more layers of stress and anxiety to his apparent mental and emotional crisis. Mounting demands and stress and tension leading to more and more opiate use finally took its toll. When Jefferson heard the news, he didn’t seem too surprised. “He was in a paroxysm of one of these [depressive states] when his affairs rendered it necessary for him to go to Washington.” (Lipscomb&Bergh, Vol.XVIII, p.159). When Clark received word, he too mentioned in a letter to his brother Jonathon that that was one of his worst fears concerning his friend and partner. “I fear O! I fear the waight of his mind has over come him, what will be the Consequence?” ( Holmberg; Dear Brother; pp. 206, 209-210.) It appears that both Jefferson and Clark had found Lewis to be unstable.

During their first trip to Washington City, after their unprecedented western exploration, for their debriefing with the President, Jefferson made Lewis the Governor of the Louisiana Territory, and he asked Clark to go to Big Bone Lick for him. He also gave Clark the rank of Brigadier General of the Louisiana territorial militia and head of Indian Affairs of the Western territory. A little dissection of these appointments will prove the confidence Jefferson had in William Clark.

First of all, making Lewis the Governor of the Louisiana Territory didn’t really mean that much yet, because plans for the territory didn’t include immediate settlement or divisions for statehood. It was going to be managed like any other territorial possession, that is, it would be under military control. So Clark’s new Brigadier General rank in the militia and head of Indian Affairs probably meant that he had more immediate responsibility and authority in the new territory than did Lewis.

Secondly, being placed in charge of Indian Affairs was no small appointment. Jefferson’s belief in his own plan of assimilating the Native Americans’ life style and customs into one of Western European design would require the services of someone whose trust by the Indians was unquestioned and established, someone with a long military background and understanding of leadership, discipline, diplomacy and problem-solving, someone who could endure hardships and persevere regardless of the situation, and someone who understood the social and cultural differences between the two races. Jefferson firmly believed that the Indian race was on an equal setting with the white race (see Jefferson’s ‘Notes on Virginia’, Lipscomb&Bergh, Vol. II, pp. 1-261), and that they could be taught the yeoman way of life and subsistence, adopting farming and permanent settlement over the seasonal, migratory hunter-gatherer lifestyle which required vast amounts of land and acreage to support.

Thirdly, asking William Clark to personally visit Big Bone Lick, Kentucky to find, uncover, recover and safely deliver to Jefferson himself specimens of the Pleistocene megafauna once located in abundance there, proves how much faith and trust the president had in the man. Jefferson was absolutely passionate about learning all he could from these bones by comparative study and formation of hypotheses and evidence-based conclusions to test on the international academic, scientific and philosophical playing field. He actually presented Clark with a shopping list of specific needs, fully convinced of Clark’s ability to deliver. So, in late September of 1807, William Clark took leave of Louisville for Boone County, Kentucky, headed for the already famous Big Bone Lick.

Not until recent time was it known that accompanying William on this endeavor was his famous, older brother, General George Rogers Clark. William had devoted himself to attending the financial and business affairs of the General, dating all the way back to his military campaigns to the Illinois country. Neither the Commonwealth of Virginia nor the U.S. Government had ever re-imbursed George Rogers Clark for the expenses of these military expeditions, and his personal assets were depleted and creditors were still pursuing him for more. At his own expense, William was acting as his agent and negotiator, traveling extensively, selling land and land claims and paying off debts that rightfully were the responsibility of the government. He would eventually even have to sell off his own Mulberry Hill farm in Louisville. But at the time, a man’s word and his signature were as binding as a decision in a court of law, especially if that man was a member of the Clark family of Kentucky.

Besides the legal and financial issues, George was suffering from some health issues, paramount of which was alcoholism. So William also assumed the role of health care provider for his aging and deteriorating older brother. Maybe getting him out of his room and into the fresh air would do him some good. Besides, he always enjoyed his companionship, back from the days of his childhood when George would regale him with stories of the wilderness and his military adventures.

Of course, York (Clark’s personal black manservant and slave since they were both boys) was along too. But this was during a time when William was experiencing major problems in York’s behavior. It was difficult and downright demeaning and insulting to York to suddenly re-assume the role of subordinate manservant and slave once he got back to Kentucky, after three full years of equality as a member of the Corps of Discovery and the first black man to ever cross the continent. After all, he was armed with a gun, knife and tomahawk and was given an equal vote in matters pertaining to the expedition. Surely, he thought, he would be given his freedom upon his return home, based on his proven value and the contributions he provided as an equal member of the Corps. But that did not happen, and he was angry, disappointed, cheated and rebellious. And the more rebellious he became, the more determined William was to whip him back into shape. Maybe getting him out of the city and back into the wilderness, marching and laboring, would bring him back to his senses.

On Sunday, September 6th, 1807, William Clark arrived at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky to begin his search for the fossil articles requested by the President. Past accounts of his visit indicate that he sought out and was joined there by Dr. William Goforth, the local Cincinnati physician who apparently had a fonder interest for paleontology than he had for his current practice of medicine. Goforth had at one time made a very extensive collection of Pleistocene fossils, only to be swindled out of them by a certain Thomas Ashe who absconded with them to Europe and unloaded them to natural history museums, curiosity shops and private collectors for a considerable profit. He returned at another date to make another collection, only to be run off by the land owner, David Ross. On December 1st, 1806, at the request of President Jefferson, who was also the President of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Dr. Wistar, Secretary of the Society, wrote to Dr. Goforth inquiring about the possibility of obtaining some of these fossils for the Society and requested him to pen his response directly to President Jefferson in Washington City. This he did, and explained that since being run off three years prior by the agent of Mr. David Ross of Virginia, he had been trying to again gain access to Big Bone Lick for further digging.

Jefferson personally knew David Ross and wrote him for permission to excavate and collect on his land in Kentucky. (Jillson: p.47). On February 25th, 1807, Jefferson wrote to Dr. Wistar explaining to him his latest arrangements for procuring the needed fossil bones to complete the Society’s collection. He informed Wistar that he had written Ross for permission to excavate and expected to receive that letter any day. He also informed him that he had secured the services of Captain Clark, “who is now here”, to oversee the collection expedition, “ as he passes through that country, to stop at the Lick, employ laborers, and superintend the search at my expense, not that of the society, and to send me the specific bones wanted, without further trespassing on the deposit, about which Mr. Ross would be tender, and particularly where he apprehended that the person employed would wish to collect for himself.” (Lipscomb&Bergh, 1904, Vol. XI, pp. 158,159,308). What he desired right now was a wish list of the bones needed by the Society for their collection. “But send me the list if you please without any delay, as Captain Clarke (Jefferson had always erroneously added an ‘e’ to the end of the Clark family name) returns in a few days, and we should miss the opportunity.”(Lipscomb&Bergh, Vol. XI, p. 159)

Clark may have left Washington in a few days, but not until he had been appointed chief Indian agent on March 9th, 1807 and Brigadier General of the militia of the Louisiana Territory on March 12, 1807 by Jefferson.(Holmberg, p.126). Nor did he head straight for Big Bone Lick. It would be another eight months before that would happen. Instead, he headed home taking “the southern route” (which meant the Wilderness Trail and the Cumberland Gap) so he could visit and court Miss Julia Hancock in Virginia again. By late March, he would be able to announce their engagement to be married in January of 1808. (Holmberg, p.133)

Now that the wedding plans were finalized, Clark returned to St. Louis in April, 1807 to settle in and begin the duties of his newly appointed offices. (Jones, p.156). Increasing pressures by the British upon the northern tribes to abandon trade with the Americans were causing turmoil and strife in that sector. Also at about the same time, the teachings and predictions of The Prophet were adding credence and momentum to his brother Tecumseh’s plan to organize and establish a unified confederation of all Indian tribes to gain back their lands from the white man.

The rest of the spring and summer of 1807 found Clark occupied, trying to come up with solutions for military defense and presence throughout the Indian country with his limited forces, carrying on peaceful discourse with the tribes to win their fur trading loyalties while creating a dependence on the Americans and warding off that of the British and the independent fur traders and trappers who were by now exerting their infiltration and presence into the mix. To accomplish these goals, he would stick to the plan of building a series of forts or factories for the convenience of the Indian trappers and hunters to dispose of their peltry and to easily acquire the goods they needed to assimilate their lifestyle into that of the white yeoman farmer, while at the same time creating the amount of debt by credit to insure the probability and ease of gaining possession of their land. This had always been Jefferson’s long term plan, and he knew that he could trust Clark to implement it and see it through.

Sometime in early to mid-August of 1807, Clark set out from St. Louis for Virginia, via Louisville and Clarksville. But before getting to his object of affection, he would head for Big Bone Lick to fulfill his promise and commitment to his Commander-in-Chief. His mission was clear and his intent was absolute. He did not leave the Falls of the Ohio alone though. As mentioned earlier, accompanying him was his famous big brother George Rogers Clark (Dear Brother, Holmberg, 126) and his personal life-long manservant and slave, York. (York’s presence on this trip has never been documented in the literature. However, this presumption can be defended by several hypotheses based on known, documented facts. First, it was not common for Clark or other diarists and record keepers of this time to include mention of slaves and their activities unless they directly pertained to the financial aspect of personal property, i.e., slaves bought, sold, hired out, traded, lent, run away, recovered, born, died, killed, beat, injured, physically disciplined, and so on. Taking a slave along on a trip did not warrant mention. Secondly, ever since their childhood, William and York were always together. Besides being indentured to Clark, York was also his boyhood playmate and hunting companion, a role that remained unchanged throughout their lives, only maturing in later life to a relationship of owner/slave instead of friend/playmate. And thirdly, Clark needed the assistance of a strong laborer along the trail, in the camp, assisting with horses and equipment, tending to the personal needs of himself and brother George, and toiling in the stinking, sticky, mucky, murky bogs of the excavation venue.)

So the three of them reached Big Bone Lick on September 6th, 1807 to begin what would prove to be the most significant and comprehensive excavation and collection of Pleistocene megafauna fossils in Big Bone’s entire history, mainly because these specimens actually made it back to Jefferson and were not stolen, lost, sunk or generally disappeared! Today, specimens of bones recovered by William Clark are still displayed in the foyer of Monticello, at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia and the National Institute of Paris.

Over 25 years prior to this expedition, Jefferson had twice asked General George Rogers Clark to collect specimens there. One written request was actually hand carried to him by Daniel Boone when he was working as a teamster for the military. In his letter from Richmond, Virginia, dated Dec. 19, 1781, Jefferson wrote to George Rogers Clark, “Having an opportunity by Colo. Boon I take the liberty of calling to your mind your kindness in undertaking to procure for me some teeth of the great animal whose remains are found on the Ohio. Were it possible to get a tooth of each kind, that is to say a foretooth, grinder &c. it would particularly oblige me.” (Boyd, 6:139). The General never actually collected very much there for Jefferson, but he did reconnoiter the place and reported back to Jefferson that upon inspection of the fossil and teeth remains found, he was of the opinion that the mysterious incognitum was indeed not a carnivore, but a browser of limbs and branches. He writes on “Feby. 20th 1782” from Louisville, “I Received your favor by Colo. Boon. I am unhappy that it hath been out of my power to procure you those Curiosities you want except a large thigh Bone that don’t please me being Broke…..The Animal had no foreteeth that I could ever discover and by no means Carnivorious as many suppose.” (Boyd, 6:159). Now George is finally there helping to fulfill the President’s long awaited dreams. But according to William’s letters back home to Brother Jonathon from Big Bone, George may not have been that much of a help after all because of his propensity for liquor. (Holmberg, pp. 127, 128).

On Wednesday, Sept 9th, 1807, Clark reported home to Jonathon that he “arrived here Sunday and commenced Monday morning, found that tools were not to be procured here and sent to Cincinnati, today I have 8 hired hands in the mud…,” (Holmberg, p126). Since he makes mention that he had to send to Cincinnati for digging tools, it is likely that Goforth was retained at this time. He was the leading local authority concerning Big Bone Lick and where to find the best concentration of bones. The fact that he already had a corps of experienced laborers at his disposal from his previous collections perhaps explains how William was able to put together a full crew in just a day or two.

Other sources have suggested that Clark employed ten laborers at the site. For instance, Edwin T. Martin in his 1952 Thomas Jefferson: Scientist book writes:
      “President Jefferson had to undertake a private paleontological
       venture. He arranged with the owner of Big Bone Lick for Clark
       to go there and do some excavating in 1807 at Jefferson’s
       expense. Clark ‘employed ten laborers several weeks’ and
       unearthed some three hundred bones, which he shipped down
       the Mississippi to New Orleans, whence they were forwarded
       to Jefferson in Washington.”

Landon Y. Jones in his 2004 book, William Clark and the Shaping of the West, notes “Clark arrived at the Lick on Sunday, September 6. The next day, he and ten hired men started digging into the marsh.”(Jones, p160). A letter from President Jefferson to Doctor Wistar, dated Washington, December 19, 1807 turns out to be the source for the number of the laborers employed being ten. Jefferson writes, “I have lately received a letter from General Clarke. He has employed ten laborers several weeks, at the Big-bone Lick, and has shipped the result, in three large boxes, down the Ohio, via New Orleans, for this place, where they are daily expected.”(Lipscomb, vol.11, p403).

Clark specifically records in a letter to Jonathon that he hired “8 hired hands.” (Holmberg, p.126). Yet Jefferson writes that Clark informed him that he employed ten laborers at Big Bone. So, who were the ninth and tenth persons? Besides the hired laborers, there were three other people there with Clark, his brother George; York, his manservant/slave; and Dr. Goforth. Two of these three made up the balance of the ten laborers doing the digging and collecting. Because of his debilitated state due to his dependence on alcohol and his tenure and accustomed position of being one of the men in charge giving the orders, it is doubtful that Brother George was down in the muck and mire doing any physical labor. That leaves York and Goforth to make up the remainder of the work force. No doubt that York’s station in life sentenced him to the backbreaking tasks at hand. He most certainly would have been expected to accompany his master and perform his duties as manservant and laborer. “It certainly would not be odd or unusual to think that York, a personal slave, would not be considered important enough to mention in any records or correspondences.” (Clare, p25 ). After all, most of William’s letters were to Brother Jonathon back home who already knew that Brother George and York were along on the trip.

Doctor Goforth’s passion and enthusiasm for Big Bone Lick paleontology surely placed him right in the midst and flurry of the digging, making him number ten. In a letter from Goforth to President Jefferson, dated only 1807 from Cincinnati, but believed to be early 1807 (because it was in response to a letter to himself from Dr. Wistar asking Goforth to describe the bones he had collected at Big Bone in the past two years as well as the possibility of gathering more for the Society and to reply directly to President Jefferson with his answers), “he more than enthusiastically spells out his willingness to return to Big Bone and collect more specimens for Jefferson and for the American Philosophical Society if they would be willing to cover his expenses for laborers and supplies”. (Clare, p125) He tells Jefferson “…and I think with 10 or 12 hands (who must be found, victuals, and liquor), I could completely search the whole Lick. The expense would be about $1.25 each man per day…” (Jillson, p43). But Jefferson obviously didn’t want to chance it again with the good doctor from Cincinnati. After all, he had already been hoodwinked by a con man out of his most recent collection that was headed for either Peale’s Natural History Museum or the American Philosophical Society but wound up being sold in Europe (Jillson; pp36-38), and later was denied access to the property by the owner’s agent when he returned for another session of fossil collecting. Determined to actually realize a collection of these highly desired fossil bones in hand, Jefferson decided to risk the mission to none other than William Clark, in whom he had the utmost trust and confidence. But this by no means insinuated that Goforth should not be contacted, consulted and invited along by Clark because he would absolutely be a very valuable resource.

In that same letter to Jonathon written from Big Bone Lick dated 9th Sept. 1807, William realized that he would need more cash than he brought along in order to cover the expenses. So he asked his brother to send him the money that was in his desk, by way of anyone heading that way anytime soon. Jonathon’s Day book indicates that he sent $85 of Williams’s cash and $20 more of his own. (Holmberg, p 128). William had no concern at all as to the possibility of not being able to recover his own money from the government, a misfortune that plagued and ruined Brother George, because this whole expedition was funded by Jefferson personally. His implicit trust in Jefferson’s word was all he needed. In a letter from Washington, December 19, 1807 addressed to “General William Clarke”, Jefferson writes:
       "Dear Sir,-I have duly received your two favors of
       September 20th, and November 10th, and am greatly obliged,
       indeed, by the trouble you have been so good as to
       take in procuring for me as thorough a supplement to the
       bones of the Mammoth as can now be had. I expect daily to
       receive your bill for all expenses, which shall be honored
       with thanks.” (Lipscomb, vol.11, pp 404-405).

So now finally, in 1808, Jefferson takes physical possession of the bones Clark collected for him at Big Bone Lick. He had been dreaming of this day for well over 25 years. And they came at a very opportune time for Jefferson, a time which was very stressful and worrisome for him in his presidency. The trade embargo he imposed was extremely unpopular and he was severely scrutinized and criticized by the American public. So he sought solace and much-needed rest and recreation by focusing upon the scientific and academic investigation of these Pleistocene treasures. To make the experience even more enjoyable, he invited his fellow Society brother, Caspar Wistar, to join him in his pleasure, offering him room and board along with academic companionship in a separate White House room set aside just for this purpose. “The bones are spread in a large room, where you can work at your leisure, undisturbed by any mortal, from morning till night, taking your breakfast and dinner with us. It is a precious collection, consisting of upwards of three hundred bones…” (Lipscomb&Bergh; Vol. XII, pp15-16.)

It is surprising, but understandable, that Jefferson focused so intensely upon the paleontological resources at Big Bone Lick while completely foregoing and ignoring the prehistoric Native American cultural resources also present there. After all, he was preoccupied with solving the mystery of the American Incognitum for decades, along with other Enlightenment philosophers and scientists around the globe. It was easy for the common laborers and investigators to overlook the upper stratigraphic cultural data and artifacts disturbed and uncovered in the quest for Pleistocene material. But it seems totally out of character for Jefferson to ignore that material. He was already recognized as the father of American Archaeology and was even responsible for some of the modern-day archaeological methods and techniques still in practice today. He had an unprecedented interest in the past history and cultures of the Native Americans. He collected and gathered all the data he could concerning the various tribes and sects. He respected Native Americans as equals to Euro Americans. He was committed to assimilating the native tribes and peoples and their cultures into that of the white man. He would meld them into the invasive cultural majority by creating a dependence on the yeoman farmer way of life and credit/debt system of subsistence trade so they would eventually have to surrender their land claims to make good their debts.

But in this case, he was so pre-occupied with the paleontology of the site that he completely overlooked the archaeology. Dr. Goforth did not! Part of his arrangements with Clark was that he was entitled to any and all cultural remains and artifacts uncovered in the search for the Pleistocene bone specimens for the President. Consequently, he wound up with all the archaeological artifacts encountered. Among these were pottery sherds and chert artifacts, including three early prehistoric projectile spear points. Their morphology places them in the era of the Paleo-Indian, which is generally accepted to be 12,000 years B.C., or approximately 14, 000 years ago.

This type of paleo point would not be identified or recorded again until 1932 when it was discovered in Clovis, New Mexico. It has remained the type specimen for the Paleo-Indian culture ever since. However, had it been recorded and reported upon in Clark’s day, it would have been the type specimen for 12,000B.C. Native Americans and called the Big Bone Point instead of the Clovis Point.

Dr Kenneth Tankersley’s book “In Search of Ice Age Americans” traces the provenience history of these three Paleo points, currently housed at the Cincinnati Museum Center. From Dr. Goforth, they were bequeathed to Dr. Daniel Drake. Drake was a student of Goforth’s (one of the first physicians in Cincinnati, Ohio) beginning in 1798, at the age of 13. “By 1804, he was a partner in Goforth’s practice. One year later, Goforth granted Drake a formal diploma to practice medicine on his own. This was the first medical diploma granted west of the Appalachian Mountains. Drake spent the next two years in Philadelphia, continuing his studies. He then opened a medical practice in Kentucky before returning to Cincinnati in 1807.” (Ohio Hist.Soc., 2005, “Daniel Drake”, Ohio History Central: An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History.) This is the same year Goforth accompanied Clark to Big Bone and collected the bones for Jefferson and encountered and curated the Native American artifacts. Whether these early paleo spear points were found in conjunction with the remains of the Pleistocene megafauna or not is unknown. Had they been found and duly recorded, this would have been a major discovery of Ice Age Man in North America. And the nomenclature, Big Bone point, would have graced the standard morphological specimen for paleo-man in North America.

Drake passed the specimens on to the Western Museum, one of this country’s early natural history museums and cabinets of curiosities. Here they remained until the museum burned around 1867. At that point they were purchased by Thomas Cleneay, a successful Cincinnati businessman and philanthropist, and they remained in his personal private collection until sometime in the 1890s, when he donated them to the Cincinnati Art Museum. They remained in storage there for almost 100 years, when in the 1980s they were donated to the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.

These paleo-manufactured spear points are as important and significant to local prehistoric Native American archaeology as are the Pleistocene megafauna fossilized bone specimens to the study of early North American Ice Age paleontology. Thanks to the personal commitment and dedication of William Clark to his friend Thomas Jefferson, coupled with the insight and cultural interests of William Goforth, the relationship of Ice Age Paleo-Indian Americans can now be associated and interpolated with the presence of the mammoth and mastodon at Big Bone Lick.

Jefferson’s burning desire to discover and establish some ancient roots and an ancient history for his relatively young country occupied much of his adult life. To come up with something fascinating enough to rival the ancient history of Europe, he turned to nature and science for an answer. The study of natural history led him to the sciences of archaeology and paleontology, which led him to Big Bone Lick, not personally, but through hand-picked, highly trusted representatives. He sent his personal secretary and co-commander of the most famous American exploration of the western North American continent, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to Big Bone Lick in 1803, just prior to the outset of the Lewis and Clark expedition, to make a collection of Pleistocene fossil bones for him. Then, in 1807, after the successful completion of the most famous three year exploration in American history, up until the initiation of space exploration, he directed Captain William Clark to return to Big Bone Lick for yet another collection of specimens for him.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition both began and ended at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky!

Boyd, Julian P. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 1952-present.

Clare, Donald E, Jr.. The Thomas Jefferson-Lewis and Clark-Big Bone Lick Connection. Research Paper. November, 2002.

Holmberg, James J. Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathon Clark. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. 2002.

Jillson, Willard Rouse. Big Bone Lick: An Outline of Its History Geology and Paleontology. The Standard Printing Company. Louisville, Kentucky. 1936.

Jones, Landon Y. William Clark and the Shaping of the West. Hill and Wang. New York. 2004.

Lipscomb, Andrew A. and Bergh, Albert Ellery. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson. The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association. Washington, D.C. 1903. In 20 Volumes.

Martin, Edwin T. Thomas Jefferson: Scientist. Henry Schuman, Inc. New York. 1952.

Semonin, Paul. American Monster: How The Nation’s First Prehistoric Creature Became A Symbol Of National Identity. New York University Press. New York and London. 2000.

Slaughter, Thomas P. Exploring Lewis and Clark: Reflections on Men and Wilderness. Alfred A. Knopf. New York. 2003.

Steffan, Jerome O. William Clark: Jeffersonian Man on the Frontier. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman, Oklahoma. 1977.

Tankersley, Kenneth B. In Search of Ice Age Americans. Gibbs Smith, Publisher. Salt Lake City, Utah. 2002.

For those interested in gaining a better understanding of William Clark’s dedication and enthusiasm in the completion of the mission assigned him by President Jefferson, I am including here two lengthy and consequently seldom published letters from Clark to Jefferson.* The first letter was actually written from Big Bone Lick on Sept 20th, 1807. It indicates that he has been working there for two weeks already and plans to continue another week because he is not yet satisfied with his yield of fossil specimens.

The next letter he sends Jefferson is dated November 10th, 1807. It was written from Louisville after his return home from Big Bone and after he had a chance to finally digest the data he collected. Here he demonstrates his proclivity for the understanding and implementation of what we refer to as the scientific method. I include the entire letter here to demonstrate that despite his Reuben Gold Thwaites stereotype and his distinctive grammatical license for punctuation, capitalization and phonetic spelling, he truly was a Man of the Enlightenment, a scientist and naturalist, and analytical thinker. He was dedicated, trustworthy, dependable, thorough, astute and disciplined. These letters exemplify and testify to these traits which make up the man we know as William Clark

Camp Big Bone Lick

September 20th, 1807

Sir

I have been employed two weeks at this place with ten hands searching for the bones of the Mammoth &c. without meeting with as much suckcess as I expected. This Lick has been pillaged so frequently that but fiew valuable bones are to found entire.—I have found part of several heads of the Mammoth, tho most of them so decayed, that when the soft mud was taken from them and the air admited, they crumbled and fell to pieces. I have saved Two which are tolerably hard, also a part of the great pan of the head covering the brains. I have several pieces of the Jaw bone with Teeth in them, and one with a Small Tusk.—I have also found many of the Teeth and a part of a jaw bone of what I believe to be the Siberian Eliphant with two teeth in it.—and have also found a Number of Teeth of both the Mammoth and Eliphant, Maney pieces of Tusks, and one entire in a Decayed State (the only entire Tusk found ever found at this place) 9 feet 11 inches long and 20 Inchs around, with a spiral twist in addition to the curve.—Near the surface of the earth and also 8 or ten feet under, I have collected parts of Several heads of two distinct Animals of the Goat or Sheep Species; The horns of one of those Animals, are large and bend downwards--; the other Streight and at right angles from the head and appear long.—

I feel much chagrined in not finding a great r portion of the upper part of the head, and an entire paw of the Mammoth as Specimens to send forward to the Society, tho’ I am not yet without hopes of finding those parts, and shall continue the Search one week longer.

The bones which Mr. D. Ross mention’s in his letter as having been taken by his “Agent Mr. Carneal from Doctr. Goforth and received in a house in Cincinnati” are not to be found. I have not received any aid or assistance from his agents near this place, but much outward Shew, and letters of promis of and much civility.

On my return to the Falls of Ohio, I will do myself the honor to write you a full account of the bones found at this place, and those which I shall send forward to you.

       . . .With every Sentiment of the highest respect and veneration

       I have the honor to be

       Your mo sinc Obt & He Servant

       Wm Clark

Louis Ville Kentucky Novr. 10th. 1807

Sir,

By letter of the 20th, of September from the Big Bone Lick, I done myself the honor of informing you the progress I had then made in the collection of certain bones at that place. After that time, Much to My chagrin No entire collection was made of the Paw, or the Great Pan of the head of the Mammoth. In addition to those other smaller Animals before Mentioned, I found at some debth under the surface, a part of the head of an Animal of the Cow or Buffalow Class, and Sundery bones of the horse. Specimens of all such bones as I though curious and worthy your inspection, together with four Pipes and a few articles of the Sieoux dress, a lump of Salt, and a Pidea Buffalow robe were sent on from this Place the 11th. Of October to the Collector of the Port of New-Orleans with a request to forward them to you at the City of Washington; you will most probably receive them soon after this letter. The bones are divided into three boxes ( see inclosed list) and sent in different Boats with directions not to be opened on any pretence whatever. I have taken the dementions of all such bones as I thought Material, which I have retained for fear of an accident, and have also deposited with My Brother at Clarksville such as were remaining Parts of Rib, back bons, leg bones, thigh, ham, hips, sholder blades, parts of the upper and lower Jaw, Teeth of the Mammoth and Eliphant and parts of the Mammoth Tusk’s which may hereafter be had if Necessary.

I have not separated the bones which were intended for yourself from those of the Society, and most probably have sent on more than may be necessary. My object is to send on all such as I think may tend to give you a correct idea of the different animals, from which a selection may be made of such as may not be useful to the Society. Many of those bones are intend for yourself, particularly the large Tusk and Thy bone, several teeth, an Eliphants tusk and Part of the head and Jaw as also several Indian Articles, and a lump of Salt taken from the surface of the ground in a Saline on the republican fork of the river Kanzos.

I will take the liberty of making a fiew desultory remarks and conjectures, the incorrectness of which I hope may be excused; they are intended more for enquiry than to place in opposition My opinion with those better acquainted on those subjects. Having no treatis on Comparritive Anatomy, I am Compelled to Make use of the Most Common terms.

Can any doubt exist after this of the existence in this Country at some former period of both the Mammoth and the Eliphant [ Clark’s observation that both the “mammoth”( i.e. Mastodon americanus) and the “elephant” (i.e. Elephas primegenius, also referred to as the Russian or Siberian Mammoth) had existed in America is corroborated by Lacepede and Cuvier in their report of October 10, 1808, where they state that the “three” elephant” teeth sent by Jefferson complete the proof that the two species existed simultaneously in America.], as also of three or four other Animals Now extinct in the U. States ! as well as the Horse and other Animals Common in America at this day.

I examined different bones belonging to the same Parts of the body of those larger Animals, and observed a very great difference in those of the Mammoth, from those I believe to be the bones of the Eliphant, and also some difference in some of the Mammoth bones. The jaw bone of the Mammoth commonly have four Carnine teeth. The Part of the Jaw of the Eliphant which I have sent on with two teeth in it, will, I flatter My self shew the difference, and prove that both of those Animals did exist in this Country. Tho’ this is not the only bone which differs; the ribs of one of those Animals is round, the other flat and stand edgewise, the Thy, leg, hip and sholder bones are Materially different, but the Most Conclusive difference in those animals is the Tusk and it’s Connection with the head. Those of the Eliphant is known to pass out of it’s Mouth and has a regular curve, Those of the Mammoth (I must say, if I may be permitted to judge from the head which I have seen) passes out of the upper head behind the Ear two Inches back of the teeth, bending forward Much Curved with a very Considerable spiral twist. Those tusks are not worn in the back and appear to have been only intended for Defence, while those of the Eliphant are worn quite smooth and flat near their points.

I discovered a difference in the Jaw bone’s of the Mammoth some of them have two small straight tusks, and join the head with a socket, others have not the small tusk and differ in Connecting with the head. This difference in the Jaw bone creates some suspicion that two species of the Genus of Animals May have existed. This may be a distinctive difference between the Mail and female. It is evident however, that some of them shed their teeth, as Many are found in the smaller Jaw bones hollow, and without root and loose, whilst others in the same Jaw are firm sound and well rooted.

I cannot Collect from any source of Probable conjecture the Period of existence of those tremendous Animals. I find in solid stiff mud their bones equally firm and entire in their appearance, from the surface of the earth to the debth of twelve feet; the detached teeth of this Animal is found in greatest abundance Near the surface.

The Most entire Porous bones are found in the boils of salt water or Miry places several feet lower than the surface, which when separated from the Mud and admitted to the air separates and crumbles to Pieces. The Eliphants Teeth and bones are most Commonly found in those Mires or boils at Various debth.

The bones of the smaller or Nondescript Animals are promiscuously scattered in different Parts of the Lick with other bones. I observed in digging up different Parts of the Lick particularly in those Mires where the salt water boils up, at the debth of from five to Eight feet, we struck upon Several small Collections of half Masticated willow, which was evidently the Contents of the Stomachs of some of those smaller animals, on which the Mammoth Most probably preyed. As it is evident from the head teeth and Paw of the Mammoth it must have been a Carniverous, is it not most probable that those Licks were the Places to which they frequented for the purpose of preying on the smaller animals which must have resorted in great numbers about those Licks. The water in the Big bone lick is Particularly agreeable to almost every animal; from the emensity of bones of small animals at that place Great numbers must have died in those Mires. Presumeing that the Mammoth preyed upon those Mired animals, many of them must have Mired and perished in like Manner. Those skilitons found in Many other places may not have perished in this way, but have been killed in the act of fighting each other. But fiew bones are found in Licks without Mires.

For what purpose the Eliphant resorted to those Licks must be conjecture, probably to drink the water, and like other animals mired and perished. I found the teeth of about six of those animals, and the teeth of about forty Mammoth.

Dureing the three weeks I remained at the Bigbone Lick, I observed every day great Numbers of the Nighbours Cattle and horses, and sometimes hogs eagerly Comeing into the Lick and drinking an emence quantity of the water; Great numbers of Paroquets and wild Pigions were also flocking about the lick. In remarking this circumstance to some of the Neighbours they appeared to adopt an opinion that “there was something in the air about the Lick very agreeable to the Cattle, and observed, that they Came from every direction for six or eight Miles around to that Place to drink the Salt water, and further observed that a drove of Cattle on their way from the interior settlement to be Pastered Near that Place, when in 2 and a half miles of the Lick they became restless and ran with eagerness to the Place and drank profusely of the water.”

I cannot with Certainty say whether it is the Salt and sulpher impregnation only which produces this Peculiar fondness of all animals for this water, or other additional impregnations which other Licks have not. I am willing to believe the water is additionally impregnated, but with what substance I am incapable to informing you. This Lick is in a Valley serounded with hills, the atmosphere Cold and damp. I had for the first time in my life, the Rheumatism in My wrists, sholders, hips and knees during the time I remained under the influence of the Vapour arriseing from the Lick, and several of the men who worked in the water were slightly attacked with a chill and fever.

The different bones which I have Collected in this serch, are those of the Mammouth, the Eliphant, Two nondescript animals of the Sheep or Goat Species with horns bending down; the bones of one of those Animals much larger than those of their Class, the other small and May possibly be the female. An other animal with tapering horns connecting with the head at right angles, long and horizontal. I also found a Part of the head of an animal of the Buffalow or Cow Species, but no other bones which I can say with Certainty belongs to that Animal. A Gentleman of Veracity and much respectability in this neighbourhood informs me that he has seen the part of a head of this animal much larger and more entire than the one I have sent forward, which he had believed to be the head of the Mammoth until he had seen the bones of that animal which I had Collected. Is it not probable that similar mistakes may have been made even by men of observation who were not accustomed to minute examination, and the bones and excivia which Bishop Madison mentions having been found in Wythe May be those of the Eliphant, or some other large Animal. However I do not think Improbable that the Mammoth May have fed upon herbage as well as flesh. The tongue which from every appearance was the great conductor of every species of food into the Mouth, may have been constructed as well to Collect the twigs and bough as to assist the Claws in separating the flesh. It is certain they were not graniverous, as they have no fore teeth, and the only 8 teeth which they have are evidently not Calculated to chew that species of food.

The Part of the great pan of the Head No. 26 which I have sent on, is the only bone of that part found. In the head which crumbled to pieces before I had time to take any of its dementions, the socket of the Eye was entire and was about 2 ˝ inches diameter. More of the socket of the tusk appeared than is shewn in those specimens sent on to you. The tusks appeared to have concenterate 19 or 20 inches within the head Passing out behind the Ear and back of the teeth, the bone guarding the Ear projected about three inches. I regret very much the loss of this head, it is impossible to save those that are taken out of the water, and it is in the water or Mires the Most entire bones are found.

I have sent on to you a number of the bones of the Paw, which I hope mat be Satisfactory in determining it’s form and Class, those are all the bones which were found of that part. They like the tusks and teeth were promesquosly scattered through the Lick at various debth. I think the Mammoth like the Bear must have walked on the flat of it’s foot the joints of the Paw of the Mammoth being much shorter in Proportion than those of the Bear, dog or Cat, and containing joints, must have had more action, and very different in their Connection. The probable length of the Paw judging from such joints as I have been inabled to Connect, is about three feet and much expanded.

It may not be necessary to remark that in the Valley of the Bigbone Lick, there are a Number of Salt water boils nearly in a range for 200 paces, the lower of those, is the one made use of; and in, and about which, the most of the large bones have been found in the upper of those boils which Contains the Most water, I observed entire leaves thrown up which appeared only Coulored. Curious to find out a Probable cause of this Collection of leaves, I set several men to work and Penitrated a [collection] of leaves in mass about seven feet to a hard gravel, (which must have been the bottom of the Creek which now runs at about forty paces distant) in this gravel a rib and two other broken bones of the Mammoth were found. The leaves within the water of the boil were in the most perfect state of preservation Just to the gravil while those at a few feet distant were nearly decayed. In diging near another of those boils, at the debth of Nine feet found small shells, but no other bones than those of the Bullalow and other small animals.

Several bones of the horse were found at some debth under the surface in a stiff mud, a leg and foot bone of this animal which I have sent on to you was found in under mineing a high bank in the hard earth Eight feet Eight inches below the surface of the mud of the lick, and taken out in My Presents. I found several pieces of the palmated horn of the Moose Deer, then other bones I could not distinguish from those of the Elk.

I have not in this serch found any of the bone of the Mountain ram, or the Antilope common in the head waters of the Missouri, or any such as I believe to be the wooled goat or American Sheep.

I have made a serch in the Encyclopadea (which is the only treatise I have on Zoology) particularly under the genus Bos and Capra, for a description of those smaller animals, but it has only served to convince me, that the Animals to whom belonged the smaller bones, found at the Big bone lick, are entirely unknown, and that their race, like their great contemporary the Mammoth, is quit extinct; however I hope the specimens will give the Society an opportunity of satisfactorily determining this point, as well as their Class and figure.

I have the honor to be with every sentiment on sincere respect & veneration Your Most Obedient & Hb Servant

       Wm. Clark.

A List of Sundry Bones collected by William Clark at the Big Bone Lick in Kentucky, and sent by the way of New Orleans to the President of the United States.

. . .this portion of Clark’s letter to Jefferson is an inventory and item description of each specimen in each of the three crates sent to Washington City.

* Both letters and the list are in the Library of Congress, Jefferson Papers. Reprinted from:

Rice, Howard C., Jr. Jefferson’s Gift Of Fossils To The Museum Of Natural History In Paris. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 95, Number 6, December, 1951. pp 600-604.

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