Corps of Discovery: Part V

“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” – John F. Kennedy, April 29, 1962 on the occasion of a celebratory dinner for Nobel Laureates. As with everything Thomas Jefferson, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, every chapter, bore his hand and influence, and, in that way, the influence of his incomparable library at Monticello. When Meriwether Lewis departed Washington on July 5, 1803 for Pittsburgh, where he would begin the first leg of the Expedition down the Ohio River, France’s sale of the Louisiana Purchase lands had only just, on the previous day, become public news in the capital. The actual sale for about $15 million had be…