Meriwether Lewis and Keelboat:Part IV

As a result of the Whisky Rebellion of 1794 in four counties of Western PA, President George Washington called out a militia to march to Pittsburgh. One of the volunteers, at a restless age of 20 years old, was Meriwether Lewis. He enlisted as a private and was promoted to ensign later in the year. He remained in the military and in the region after the militia went home that year. He joined the regular army on May 1, 1795 with the rank of ensign. In the fall of 1795, he ended up in the Chosen Rifle Company under Captain William Clark, until Clark left the military six months later. Lewis became a captain on December 5, 1800. Relevant to our story here, Lewis was immersed in frontier Ohio, went back and forth to Pittsburgh and Detroit, and traveled along the Ohio River. He came to …