William Clark
William Clark was an American explorer, soldier, and territorial official who co-led the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) across the western United States to the Pacific Ocean. After the expedition, Clark was appointed Brigadier General of militia for Louisiana Territory and served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs at St. Louis from 1807 until his death. As Superintendent, Clark was the principal U.S. negotiator for dozens of treaties with Native American nations in the trans-Mississippi region. He negotiated or witnessed more treaties than any other individual in this collection, playing a central role in the diplomatic framework that shaped relations between the United States and Indigenous peoples of the Missouri and Mississippi river valleys during the early 19th century.
Portrait: Charles Willson Peale, c. 1807
Related Locations
Note: the longest gap between tagged appearances is about 7 months (Oct 26, 1803 → May 14, 1804). William Clark may have been present in the corps during that span but is not named in the journals.
Treaties (33)
Art (13)
Tent of Many Voices (24)
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Journal Entries (1179)
Wildlife (12)
Translations (1)
Documents (11)
Cross-Narrator Analyses
AI-assisted scholarly analyses that cite or discuss William Clark — showing 24 of the most recent matches.
Departure from Camp Dubois: Four Voices on a Single Afternoon
Four expedition journals record the Corps of Discovery's launch up the Missouri. Comparing Whitehouse, Floyd, Ordway, and Clark reveals striking patterns of…
A Heavy Stern and a Rainy Morning: The Barge in Trouble Below St. Charles
On the second day out from River Dubois, the captains and the enlisted journalists record the same nine-mile push in strikingly different…
Court-Martial at St. Charles: Discipline on the Eve of Departure
While three enlisted men reduce the day to weather and waiting, Clark's journal and Ordway's orderly book document a court-martial that tested…
Three Registers at St. Charles: Cargo, Courtship, and a Single Line
On a fine May morning at St. Charles, three expedition journalists record the same day in radically different registers — Clark's logistical…
Captain Lewis Arrives at St. Charles in the Rain
Four narrators record the same rainy Saturday at St. Charles as Captain Lewis rejoins the Corps from St. Louis. Their entries —…
Lewis Joins the Party at Petit Côte
On a rain-soaked Sunday in St. Charles, Lewis finally rejoined Clark and the Corps. The five journals diverge sharply in scope —…
Three Cheers and a Violent Rain: Departing St. Charles
Four narrators record the same afternoon departure from St. Charles, but their accounts diverge sharply in detail, register, and emphasis—revealing how rank,…
A Kickapoo Promise Kept at the Mouth of a Small Creek
On the second full day above St. Charles, the expedition passes Bonhomme Creek, encamps under cliffs, and receives venison from Kickapoo hunters…
The Tavern Cave and a Captain’s Near-Fall: Four Voices on a Missouri Landmark
On May 23, 1804, four expedition narrators record a stop at the Tavern Cave below the Osage Womans River. Their accounts diverge…
The Retrograde Bend: Four Voices on a Near-Disaster
When the keelboat's tow rope snapped in the Missouri's violent current, four expedition journalists recorded the same crisis in radically different registers…
The Last Settlement: Four Voices at the Edge of the Known World
On May 25, 1804, four expedition journalists recorded the Corps of Discovery's arrival at a small French village marking the westernmost outpost…
Detachment Orders Amid the Thunder
While four narrators record only rain, a creek, and a campsite, Lewis devotes the day to a sweeping reorganization of the Corps…
Mouth of the Gasconade: Five Voices, One Camp
On a Sunday in May 1804, the expedition reached the Gasconade River and met traders descending from three Indian nations. Four sergeants…
A Wet Pirogue, a Measured River, and a Cave That Wasn’t There
At the mouth of the Gasconade, five narrators record the same storm and the same dead deer — but Whitehouse's entry drifts…
A Missing Hunter and the Echo of Guns: Four Voices from Deer Creek
On a rain-soaked Tuesday above the Gasconade, four expedition journalists record the same brief march and the same lost hunter — but…
Rain, Hail, and a Lost Hunter: Four Voices on a Soggy Missouri Day
Four expedition journals record the same rain-soaked passage past Monbrun's Tavern, but only Ordway and Clark identify the mysterious gunfire heard the…
A Wind-Bound Day and a Letter Burned on the Arkansas
Five narrators record the same wind-bound camp near the Gasconade, but only Clark preserves the political news riding downriver in the trader's…
Arrival at the Osage: Five Pens at the Confluence
On June 1, 1804, the Corps reached the mouth of the Osage River. Five narrators record the same arrival, but each preserves…
Measuring the Confluence: A Day of Instruments and Returning Hunters
At the mouth of the Osage, Clark turns surveyor while his companions log the same river widths in shrinking detail. Two lost…
A Sore Throat, an Obscured Sun, and Signs of War Parties
On a Sunday split between fair morning and clouded afternoon near the Osage, five narrators record the same five-mile push to Murrow…
The Broken Mast and the Singing Bird
Five narrators record June 4, 1804 — a day defined by a snapped mast, a nighttime bird's song, and a rumored lead…
The Painted Devil and the Burned Beaver: Two Frenchmen on the Missouri
A chance midday encounter with two French trappers descending from the Kansas River yields the expedition's first secondhand intelligence on the plains…
Salt Springs, Split Rock, and a Boat Nearly Lost
Five narrators describe the same stretch of Missouri shoreline, but each preserves a different fragment: Clark's salinity arithmetic, Gass's near-disaster at the…
The Mine River and a Cache of Buried Skins
On June 8, 1804, the expedition reached the mouth of the Mine River. Five narrators record the same day with strikingly different…
From Heacock's Writings
18 mirrored articles by Robert Heacock that mention William Clark.
The Falls of the Ohio
The partnership begins
Phoca (Seal) Rock
Rattlesnakes
Crotalus sp.
The Columbia River Gorge
Its geologic origin
William Clark (1784–1838)
A Solitary Hero
Excerpt from River of Promise
January 8, 1806
A night at Ecola
November 7, 1805
Ocean in view?
December 7, 1803
Cahokia arrivals
April 7, 1806
Regulating the firearms
December 30, 1805
Fair morning
November 3, 1805
The "Quick Sand" River
April 3, 1806
Mapping the Willamette River
October 29, 1805
Friendly villages
April 28, 1806
Yelleppit brings a horse
November 27, 1805
Sheltering at Tongue Point
March 27, 1806
Generous Skilloots
March 26, 1806
At Fanny's Bottom