Sylum Inspiration: William Clark

Tallikut: Member

 

William Clark was born in Caroline County, Virginia, on August 1, 1770, the ninth of ten children of John and Ann Rogers Clark. His parents were natives of King and Queen County, and were of English and possibly Scots ancestry. The Clarks were common planters in Virginia, owners of modest estates and a few slaves, and members of the Anglican Church.

Clark did not have any formal education; like many of his contemporaries, he was tutored at home. In later years, he was self-conscious about his convoluted grammar and inconsistent spelling—he spelled “Sioux” 27 different ways in his journals of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition—and sought to have his journals corrected before publication. The spelling of American English was not standardized in Clark’s youth, but his vocabulary suggests he was well read.

Clark’s five older brothers fought in Virginia units during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), but William was too young.His oldest brother, Jonathan Clark, served as a colonel during the war, rising to the rank of brigadier general in the Virginia militia years
afterward. His second-oldest brother, George Rogers Clark, rose to the rank of general, spending most of the war in Kentucky fighting against British-allied American Indians. After the war, the two oldest Clark brothers made arrangements for their parents and family to
relocate to Kentucky.

William, his parents, his three sisters, and the Clark family’s slaves arrived in Kentucky in March 1785, having first traveled overland to Redstone Landing in present-day Brownsville, Pennsylvania. They completed the journey down the Ohio River by flatboat. The Clark family settled at “Mulberry Hill”, a plantation along Beargrass Creek near Louisville. This was William Clark’s primary home until 1803. In Kentucky, his older brother George Rogers Clark taught William wilderness survival skills.

William Clark resigned his commission on July 4, 1796 and retired due to poor health, although he was only 26 years old. He returned to Mulberry Hill, his family’s plantation near Louisville.

In 1803, Meriwether Lewis recruited Clark, then age 33, to share command of the newly formed Corps of Discovery, whose mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, establish trade with Native Americans and the sovereignty of the US. They were to find a
waterway from the US to the Pacific Ocean and claim the Oregon territory for the United States before European nations did. Clark spent three years on the expedition to the Pacific Coast. A slave owner known to deal harshly with his slaves, he brought York, one of his slaves, with him. York did manual labor in extreme weather and received no compensation. The indigenous nations treated York with respect, and many of the Native Americans were interested in his appearance, which “played a key role in diplomatic relations”.

Although Clark was refused a promotion to the rank of captain when Jefferson asked the Senate to appoint him, at Lewis’ insistence, he exercised equal authority, and continued the mission. Clark concentrated chiefly on the drawing of maps, the management of the expedition’s supplies, and leading hunting expeditions for game.

Fore more information see the Vampire Council Library

He had always suspected something was unique about Meriwether Lewis. But it wasn’t until their guide Sacawgea was injured in a mudslide that he found the truth. He demanded more information from Lewis, then demanded why he wasn’t told.

When Lewis told him they were Mates. He kissed him. Saying he had wanted to do that for years.

He was Turned and Mated with in days.