杰斐逊与西部

这种对边疆的兴趣，可以在杰斐逊保存的关于西部的大量图书馆中看到。从他的阅读中，他开始相信猛犸象、巨型树懒和其他史前生物会沿着密苏里河上游被发现。“在大平原的某个地方，有一座一英里长的纯盐山;荒地上的火山可能还在喷发…西部所有的大河都发源于一块高地，向几个方向流向南半球的海洋。最重要的是，他相信可能会有一条水路，通过一条穿越山脉的低空运输通道，通往太平洋。”(安布罗斯,1996)。在成为美国总统之前，托马斯·杰斐逊对派遣探险者去西部有着长期的兴趣。在刘易斯和克拉克远征的50年前，杰斐逊和刘易斯的家人都是建议向密苏里河上游远征的人之一。这群弗吉尼亚的绅士被称为忠诚公司。 Unfortunately the French and Indian War intervened and blocked their plans. The Loyal Company passed its interests down to younger generations through family and personal relationships. Jefferson would have heard from his father and later from his tutor, James Maury. Lewis probably knew of this venture from his grandfather and his tutor Matthew Maury, James' son. (Maps of Exploration, 2003.)杰斐逊试图在他的总统前启动几次探索探险。在法国，他敦促John Ledyard通过穿越俄罗斯来寻求到太平洋的路线。“我向他建议探索我们大陆西部的企业通过将斯特罗斯堡传递给堪察加卡，并在一些俄罗斯船上采购一篇文章到Nootka的声音，他可能会在整个大陆到美国的方式。“莱蒂达德正在进行这段旅程，但由当局通过俄罗斯的中途停止，被驱逐出境。（2003年国会图书馆。）在1783年，杰斐逊，希望亲自为探索探索北美西部。杰斐逊接近乔治·罗杰斯克拉克上校的一些历史讽刺令人冰冷，但上校又拒绝了，推荐了他的弟弟威廉。这个冒险没有什么，直到十年后，杰斐逊以及美国哲学社会的其他成员都试图融资另一个探险。在另一点讽刺中，Meriwether Lewis自愿领导这项努力，但由于18岁以上，他被认为太年轻和缺乏经验。选择了法国科学家，安德烈·米科克斯被选中。Michaux是一个训练有素的植物学家和经验丰富的探险家。 The expedition was aborted in the Ohio River Valley when it was found that Michaux was a French agent and involved in political intrigues. (Academy of Sciences, 2003.) It wasn't until Jefferson became President, almost a decade later, that he publicly refocused his attention on the West. Jefferson became President on March 4, 1801, but even before his inauguration, he wrote to General James Wilkerson, commanding General of the Army requesting Lewis for his private secretary. Jefferson gave two reasons for seeking out Lewis: "first a knowledge of the western country and the army and secondly, a personal acquaintance with him, owing from his being of my neighborhood." (Monticello, 2003.) In his letter to Lewis, Jefferson states that he wanted the young man to not only take care of business affairs, but also assist in contributing "to the mass of information which is interesting to the administration to acquire." (Academy of Sciences 2003.) Lewis immediately accepted the position, for it promised almost unlimited access to important people and knowledge. The job came with a horse, servant, and a small salary, and the amazing perk of dealing each day with Jefferson. Lewis was born on his father's farm, Locust Hill, located approximately ten miles west of Monticello on August 18, 1774. Jefferson knew him almost from the day he was born. And, two of Jefferson's siblings had married into the Lewis family. Lewis' father, William, and mother, Lucy Meriwether, were second cousins, and by naming their eldest son for his mother's family, denoted his association with two prominent families in Virginia. (Monticello, 2003) Lewis lived with Jefferson in the White House and the two ate meals together almost every night. Lewis, who had been fatherless since the age of five, gained in his new patron far more than role model and mentor, but more than likely a father figure as well. Jefferson was impressed by the young man's knowledge of the army, his curiosity, and his abilities as a woodsman. It was also during this time that he noted "a certain hypochondria which ran in the family." Years later Jefferson wrote of his feelings for his young prot'eg'e: Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness & perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction, careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order & discipline, intimate with the Indian character, customs & principles, habituated to the hunting life, guarded by exact observation of the vegetables & animals of his own country, against losing time in the description of objects already possessed, honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound under- standing and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves, with all these qualifications as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in con- fiding the enterprise to him. (As cited in Malone, 1974.) Jefferson's interest in the West was given a dramatic push in January, 1802, when he and Lewis read Alexander Mackenzie's Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, Through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Ocean. In his book Mackenzie had urged the necessity for vigorous efforts to find a water route to the northwest coast of North America before the Americans did, so that Britain could claim for herself "the entire command of the fur trade of North America" from "48 degrees north to the Pole." England could accomplish this "by opening this intercourse between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and forming regular establishments through the interior and at both extremes, as well as along the coasts and islands." Such action would block the commercial and political ambitions of the United States. (Mapp, 1991.) Mackenzie's description of an easy crossing of the Continental Divide helped convince Jefferson of the feasibility of an American expedition across the continent. Sometime in the fall of 1802, he decided that a serious government supported expedition was needed. The Louisiana Purchase was negotiated at the same time the expedition was being planned. Jefferson's request to Congress for twenty five hundred dollars needed for the Corps of Discovery came one week after he'd asked nearly $10 million to secure New Orleans. (Academy of Sciences, 2003.) It was important for Lewis to gain certain scientific skills and to buy equipment that would be needed for the journey. In the spring of 1803, he traveled to Philadelphia to study with the leading scientists of the day. Andrew Ellicott taught him map making and surveying. Benjamin Barton tutored botany, Robert Patterson in mathematics, Caspar Wistar in anatomy and fossils, and Benjamin Rush in medicine. During this time, Lewis also visited Harpers Ferry to obtain rifles and other supplies that he had shipped to Pittsburgh. (Monticello, 2003.) Jefferson drafted explicit instructions for Clark that ran many pages long. Clark was to map the area to be explored, search for an all water route to the Pacific, catalogue flora and fauna, and send back specimens. He was to search for fossils of which Jefferson had a great interest. And, he was to determine the area's fitness as to agriculture and mining, since there were many who believed that the Purchase was a great wasteland and desert.

一旦探险队离开了圣路易斯地区，杰斐逊和刘易斯之间的联系就很粗略，而且通常是通过刘易斯派往华盛顿的印第安特使进行的间接交流。杰斐逊在对奥色治访客的讲话中表达了他对这位年轻上尉的敬意。“我派了一个我深爱的人，路易斯船长，他是我家里的人，去了解我们现在和他们在一起的人，让你知道我们是你的朋友，并邀请你来看我们，告诉我们怎样才能对你有用。”(引用自《马龙》，1974年)

人们可以想象，在刘易斯杳无音信的几个月过去后，杰斐逊被逮捕的心情。杰斐逊终于在1806年10月24日收到了刘易斯的一封信，信中宣布他平安归来。杰弗逊对这个消息的反应是“难以形容的喜悦”。你忙于那些不为人知的事情，那么长时间没有听到你的消息，这些都使我开始感到不安了。”“我这样做的唯一目的，就是要把你已经知道的事情告诉你:我永远爱你，并且满心欢喜地欢迎你在这儿的所有朋友。”(马龙,1974)。

刘易斯在华盛顿受到了他的导师的款待。两人详细讨论了这次考察以及科学报告和期刊的组织和出版。很可能他们还谈到了泽布隆·派克的西部远征，那是杰斐逊政府赞助的。

1807年，杰斐逊任命刘易斯为路易斯安那州州长。他驻扎在圣路易斯。正是在他任职期间，“疑病症”的症状变得突出。为了完成这些杂志，他经历了疟疾发作、财政困难和杰斐逊的责骂。路易斯开始酗酒和服用鸦片片。他的精神和身体状况持续恶化，以至于1809年他自杀了。杰斐逊后来写的悼词听起来很像父亲为儿子寻找解释。

路易斯州长从小就深受忧郁症的困扰。这是他这个姓的所有近亲的一种宪法规定的性格，而且是他从他父亲那里更直接地继承下来的。不过，他们的感情还没有强烈到使他的家人感到不安的地步。当他和我一起住在华盛顿的时候，我时常观察到他们情绪低落的情况，但我知道这是由体质引起的，所以我根据我在家里看到的情况来估计他们的走向。在他的西部探险中，他需要不断的努力，这需要…中止了这些痛苦的感情;但是，自从他在圣路易定居下来以后，他们又以加倍的劲头来攻击他，并开始严肃地惊动他的朋友们。当他的事情使他不得不去华盛顿时，他正处于其中一种突发状态。大约3点钟在晚上他做他的朋友陷入苦难的行为和她的一个最有价值的剥夺了他的国家公民的英勇和智慧是现在受雇于复仇的错误在模仿他的国家和土地的辉煌事迹表彰她在海上。(引用于2000年的蒙哥马利。)

上述内容是1812年为《远征日记》写的介绍性传记的一部分，最终于1814年出版。这是对刘易斯的一种恰如其分的致敬，也是对杰斐逊及其对西部的兴趣的一种致敬。

参考文献

《无畏的勇气》，1996，西蒙与舒斯特出版社。

“杰弗逊的西部”。蒙蒂塞洛:托马斯·杰斐逊的家。www.monticello.org

“路易斯和克拉克”。自然科学院。www.ansp.org/

路易斯和克拉克:探险地图1507-1814。www.lib.virginia.edu

马龙,小仲马。杰斐逊总统:第二任期1805-l808。1974年，利特尔布朗公司。

《热情的朝圣者》，1991，麦迪逊出版社。

蒙哥马利，杰斐逊先生和枪手们。2000年,皇冠出版社。

“托马斯·杰斐逊”。美国国会图书馆展览。

汤姆·朱伊特目前是麦肯德里学院的助理教授。三年前，他从南伊利诺伊大学爱德华兹维尔分校退休，并担任该机构的名誉教授。

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