What happened to the rifles Capt. Lewis obtained in Lancaster, Pennsylvania? How many did he get? Do we know how much he paid for them or who made them?
I had cause to read once again “Contributions of Philadelphia to Lewis and Clark History”, a publication of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation written by Paul Cutright and printed in 1982. I was reading Part I of this publication which had first appeared in “The Bulletin”, a publication of the Missouri Historical Society, in 1966.
Cutright wrote, “Several years later Jefferson wrote a memoir of Lewis. In this he included a statement often overlooked, that Lewis, while in Lancaster, attended to ‘the fabrication of the arms with which he chose that his men should be provided.’ Just who produced the arms here is unknown, but they must have been, according to an authority on guns [William R. Barbour, writing an article in Gun Digest titled The Guns of Lewis and Clark] ‘the typical long barrel Kentucky rifles, whose manufacture centered in the region around Lancaster.’”
Cutright cited Coues 1893 edition of The History of the Expedition Under the Command of Lewis and Clark as his source for the Lancaster rifles quote.
Not having a copy of the Coues edition at hand, I went to Jackson’s Letters of Lewis and Clark and found the quote had originated from a letter Jefferson wrote Paul Allen giving him some requested biographical background of Lewis for inclusion in the first printing of the Journals we know as the Biddle Journals. This letter is dated August 18, 1813. It has become the famous Jefferson’s memoir of Meriwether Lewis that also included the term “of courage undaunted.”
A review of Lewis’ timeline during early 1803 as he prepared for his upcoming expedition shows he left Washington DC bound for Philadelphia via Harper’s Ferry and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His first stop would be in Harper’s Ferry to order equipment that was to be made there. He carried with him a letter from Secretary of War Dearborn to the Superintendent of the arsenal asking him to make the items Lewis wanted.
Lewis stayed at Harper’s Ferry a month, finally arriving at Lancaster April 19. In part because he was so long in Harper’s Ferry, the day after he arrived in Lancaster, he wrote to Jefferson explaining his delays. His iron boat needed more time and work to get built than what had been first planned by Jefferson. He said that his rifles, tomahawks and knives were being prepared. He was sure they would be ready in time.
After spending about 3 weeks in Lancaster learning from Ellicott, Lewis went on to Philadelphia for further learning from Rush, Barton, Wistar and Patterson. He also purchased most of the other supplies and equipment he would take on the expedition. That accumulation of supplies and equipment weighed about 3,500 lbs. and is well documented by a “shopping list” Lewis made of what he wanted and invoices showing where they were obtained from. Of particular interest is that his list shows 15 rifles. The shopping list and invoices from the Philadelphia area sources are found in Jackson’s Letters. Tragically, fire at Harper’s Ferry has destroyed records there for that period of time. Consequently, we cannot confirm what Lewis got there, only what he wanted.
Continued next week
I had cause to read once again “Contributions of Philadelphia to Lewis and Clark History”, a publication of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation written by Paul Cutright and printed in 1982. I was reading Part I of this publication which had first appeared in “The Bulletin”, a publication of the Missouri Historical Society, in 1966.
Cutright wrote, “Several years later Jefferson wrote a memoir of Lewis. In this he included a statement often overlooked, that Lewis, while in Lancaster, attended to ‘the fabrication of the arms with which he chose that his men should be provided.’ Just who produced the arms here is unknown, but they must have been, according to an authority on guns [William R. Barbour, writing an article in Gun Digest titled The Guns of Lewis and Clark] ‘the typical long barrel Kentucky rifles, whose manufacture centered in the region around Lancaster.’”
Cutright cited Coues 1893 edition of The History of the Expedition Under the Command of Lewis and Clark as his source for the Lancaster rifles quote.
Not having a copy of the Coues edition at hand, I went to Jackson’s Letters of Lewis and Clark and found the quote had originated from a letter Jefferson wrote Paul Allen giving him some requested biographical background of Lewis for inclusion in the first printing of the Journals we know as the Biddle Journals. This letter is dated August 18, 1813. It has become the famous Jefferson’s memoir of Meriwether Lewis that also included the term “of courage undaunted.”
A review of Lewis’ timeline during early 1803 as he prepared for his upcoming expedition shows he left Washington DC bound for Philadelphia via Harper’s Ferry and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His first stop would be in Harper’s Ferry to order equipment that was to be made there. He carried with him a letter from Secretary of War Dearborn to the Superintendent of the arsenal asking him to make the items Lewis wanted.
Lewis stayed at Harper’s Ferry a month, finally arriving at Lancaster April 19. In part because he was so long in Harper’s Ferry, the day after he arrived in Lancaster, he wrote to Jefferson explaining his delays. His iron boat needed more time and work to get built than what had been first planned by Jefferson. He said that his rifles, tomahawks and knives were being prepared. He was sure they would be ready in time.
After spending about 3 weeks in Lancaster learning from Ellicott, Lewis went on to Philadelphia for further learning from Rush, Barton, Wistar and Patterson. He also purchased most of the other supplies and equipment he would take on the expedition. That accumulation of supplies and equipment weighed about 3,500 lbs. and is well documented by a “shopping list” Lewis made of what he wanted and invoices showing where they were obtained from. Of particular interest is that his list shows 15 rifles. The shopping list and invoices from the Philadelphia area sources are found in Jackson’s Letters. Tragically, fire at Harper’s Ferry has destroyed records there for that period of time. Consequently, we cannot confirm what Lewis got there, only what he wanted.
Continued next week
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