Summary Information
Draper Manuscripts: William Clark Papers
1780-1804
- Clark, William, d. 1791
- Clark, William, 1770-1838
Draper Mss M
0.5 c.f. (6 volumes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of William Clark (d. 1791), a cousin of George Rogers Clark, who served in the Illinois Regiment and as commissioner and surveyor of the Illinois grant; and of George Rogers Clark's younger brother, also named William Clark (1770-1838), who was one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, governor of the Missouri Territory (1813-1821), and superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis (1822-1838).
Descriptions of the volumes are copied from the Guide to the Draper Manuscripts by Josephine Harper. Out of date and offensive language may be present. This collection is also available as a microfilm publication. Forms part of the Lyman Copeland Draper Manuscripts. The fifty series included in the Draper Manuscripts have been cataloged individually. See the Draper Manuscripts Overview, and the Guide to the Draper Manuscripts by Josephine Harper (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1983) for further information. There is a restriction on use to this material; see the Administrative/Restriction
Information portion of this finding aid for details.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-draper00m ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Two members of the Clark family bore the same name: 1) William Clark (d. 1791), a son of Benjamin and thus a first cousin of George Rogers Clark; and 2) William Clark (1770-1838), youngest brother of George Rogers Clark. The elder William was a member of his cousin's Illinois Regiment and remained in military service until 1784. Afterwards he became commissioner for the Illinois grant and secretary of its governing board and at the time of his death was its principal surveyor. The younger William, a child at the time of the Revolution, soldiered in later Indian campaigns in the Old Northwest serving under John Hardin (1789), Charles Scott (1791), and Anthony Wayne (1792-1796). Accepting an invitation from Meriwether Lewis, Clark joined in planning and commanding the famed Lewis and Clark Exposition (1805-1806). Later he saw both military and civil service as governor of Missouri Territory (1813-1821) and spent the latter years of his life (1822-1838) coping with Indian problems encountered as superintendent of Indian affairs in St. Louis.
Scope and Content Note
Papers of the elder William Clark include correspondence (1777-1791), pertaining to his service in the Ilinois Regiment, administration of the Illinois grant, and the development of Clarksville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Indiana (including maps). Correspondents include his father Benjamin Clark, Richard C. Anderson, John Armstrong, Daniel Brodhead, Richard Butler, Abraham Chapline, Valentine Dalton, John Dodge, John Edwards, James Harrod, Gilbert Imlay, Harry Innes, John Montgomery, John Rogers, Arthur St. Clair, Robert Todd, and John Williams. Letters (1782-1790) of John Girault in New Orleans and Natchez concern economic conditions and relations with the Spanish in the lower Mississippi River valley. Also includes a letterbook (1782-1789), primarily of letters written to John Girault, a ledger (1784-1785) and daybook (1787-1791), muster rolls, supply inventories, and land survey notes.
Papers of the younger William Clark (1770-1838) include material on midwestern Indian affairs, 1814-1822, primarily messages delivered in 1815 to representatives of the Chippewa (Ojibwa), Kickapoo, Menominee, Potawatomi, and Sauk and Fox (Meskwaki) tribes signed by Clark, Auguste Chouteau, and Illinois territorial governor Ninian Edwards. Also includes the journal, May 14 - August 17, 1804, of Charles Floyd, a sergeant with the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The bulk of the papers in this series are those of the elder William.
Administrative/Restriction Information
PHOTOCOPY RESTRICTION: Photocopying originals is not permitted; researchers may copy from the microfilm available in the Library.
Contents List
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Draper Mss M
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Series: 1 M (Volume 1)Original manuscripts, 1780-1791, of the elder William Clark. Most pertain to his service in the Illinois Regiment, his administration of the Illinois grant, and the development of the towns of Clarksville on the Mississippi River near Fort Jefferson in Kentucky and of Clarksville on the Ohio River in Indiana. Numerous letters, 1782-1790, from John Girault in New Orleans and Natchez discuss economic conditions and relations with the Spanish in the lower Mississippi River Valley. Other correspondents include his father Benjamin Clark, Richard C. Anderson, John Armstrong, Philip Barbour, James Berwick, Daniel Brodhead, Richard Ruder, Abraham Chaplin, Valentine T. Dalton, John Dodge, John Edwards, James Harrod, Gilbert Imlay, Harry limes, John Montgomery, John Rogers, Arthur St. Clair, Robert Todd, John Williams, and John Wyllys. Among signers of military and land records are Isaiah Boone, Richard Butler, George Rogers Clark, Worden Pope, Winthrop Sargent, and James Wilkinson. These documents include muster rolls, inventories of supplies, and lists of claimants and assignees to lots in Clark's grant.
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Series: 2 M (Volume 2)
: Mainly additional papers, 1777 1793, of the elder William Clark, including correspondence; land survey notes; records pertaining to Clarksville, Indiana; and a few estate records after his death. Correspondents include John Armstrong, Abraham Chapline, Benjamin Clark, Andrew Heth, William Leas, James O'Fallon, John Rogers, Richard Terrell, John Thruston and George Walls. A few papers, 1814-1822, of the younger William Clark relate to midwestern Indian affairs. The majority are messages delivered in 1815 to representatives of the Chippewa, Kickapoo, Menominee, Potawatomi, and Sauk and Fox tribes signed by Clark, Auguste Chouteau, and Ninian Edwards, governor of Illinois Territory.
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Series: 3 M (Volume 3)
: Letterbook, 1782-1789, kept by the elder William Clark, containing copies of outgoing letters. Although a few were addressed to his father Benjamin and to John Rogers and Buckner Thruston, most were written to John Girault. With the exception of personal messages to his father, all concern business affairs connected with the Illinois grant.
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Series: 4 M (Volume 4)
: An account book, labeled “Ledger A,” 1784-1785, containing the elder William Clark's records for personal expenditures on clothing, food, and other supplies and for his work in surveying and administering the Illinois grant. The volume is prefaced by an index of the accounts prepared by Clark.
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Series: 5 M (Volume 5)
: Daybook, 1787-1791, with a few pages of cash accounts, 1788-1791, kept by the elder William Clark at Clarksville, Indiana.
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Series: 6 M (Volume 6)
: Charles Floyd's journal, May 14 - August 17, 1804, an original manuscript kept during the first weeks of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Sergeant Floyd died two days after the last entry. A typewritten copy accompanies the manuscript. The diary was published in Reuben C. Thwaites, ed., Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (New York, 1904-1905), VII, 3-26.
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