William Clark

1770–1838 · American (Virginia) · Early American Republic

Known for: Co-led the Corps of Discovery with Lewis, served as the expedition's cartographer and primary manager of relations with Native peoples

Clark was the steady, practical counterpart to Lewis's brilliance. A skilled cartographer whose maps of the American West remained the standard for decades, he also managed the expedition's day-to-day operations and was particularly effective at building relationships with Native American nations.

After the expedition, Clark served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs and Governor of Missouri Territory. He was a slaveholder who freed his enslaved companion York only reluctantly (if at all—York's fate is debated). Clark lived to old age, maintaining his reputation as an authority on the American West.

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