by Andrea Wulf
5 “the most important … transaction”: Caspar Wistar to TJ, 13 July 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 108–9.
6 make TJ “immortal”: Bayard Smith in Hunt 1906, p. 38.
7 Spain ceded Louisiana territory: The news reached the White House in 1802, Ellis 1998, p. 244.
8 “we must marry ourselves”: Jefferson to Robert Livingston, 18 April 1802, Ford 1892–99, vol. 8, p. 145.
9 Monroe as seed courier: TJ to Madame de Tessé, 30 January 1803, Betts 1944, p. 285.
10 Lewis’s departure: Lewis to Lucy Marks, 2 July 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 100.
11 “increased infinitely the interest”: TJ to Paul Allen, 18 August 1813, Jackson 1978, vol. 2, p. 591.
12 “man of letters” and following quote: Edward Thornton to Lord Hawkesbury, 9 March 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 26.
13 credit note for Lewis: TJ to Lewis, 4 July 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 105–6.
14 cipher and instructions for Lewis: Cipher for Correspondence with Jefferson, 1803, Jefferson’s Instructions to Lewis, 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 9–10, 61–66.
15 “signs of the soil”: Albert Gallatin to TJ, 13 April 1803; see also James Madison’s Notes to TJ, 14 April 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 33–34.
16 “The object of your mission” and the following quotes are from Jefferson’s Instructions to Lewis, 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 61–66.
17 paper birch in 1791: TJ to Maria Jefferson, 30 May 1791, Betts and Bear 1986, p. 83.
18 TJ’s hopes for the expedition: TJ to Bernard Lacépède, 24 February 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 15–16.
19 “like two mice”: TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 28 May 1801, Betts and Bear 1986, p. 202.
20 “remarkable store of accurate” and following quote: TJ to Benjamin Smith Barton, 27 February 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 17; for TJ and botanical excursions in Washington, see Christian Hines, 1801–09, Hines 1981, p. 13; Hunt 1906, p. 393; Daniel Brent to TJ, 26 June 1802, Padover 1946, p. 275.
21 “no regular botanist”: TJ to Benjamin Smith Barton, 27 February 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 17.
22 “adapted to the woods”: TJ to Caspar Wistar, 28 February 1803; TJ to Benjamin Rush, 28 February 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 18–19.
23 “three kingdoms”: TJ to Benjamin Barton Smith, 28 February 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 17.
24 “portable horizon”: Andrew Ellicott to TJ, 6 March 1803; see also Lewis to TJ, 20 April 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 24, 37–40.
25 TJ and Megalonyx: Thomson 2008b, p. 35; TJ to Caspar Wistar, 28 February 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 18; Ambrose 2005, p. 91; TJ to David Rittenhouse, 3 July 1796; TJ’s Memoir on the Megalonyx for the APS, 10 February 1797, TJ Papers, vol. 29, pp. 138–39, 291–304; Thomson 2008a, pp. 80–85; Thomson 2008b, pp. 34–37.
26 Benjamin Rush: TJ to Benjamin Rush, 28 February 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 18–19.
27 “Thunderclappers”: Ambrose 2005, p. 89.
28 “Rules of Health”: “Benjamin Rush’s Rules of Health,” 11 June 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 54–55.
29 “Is Suicide common”: Benjamin Rush to Lewis, 17 May 1803, “Questions to Merryweather Lewis,” Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 50.
30 Lewis with Barton: TJ to Benjamin Smith Barton, 27 February 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 16–17; Ambrose 2005, p. 91.
31 Native Americans to adopt agriculture: Ambrose 2005, p. 124; Ellis 2007, pp. 232ff.; see also Thomas Law to JM, 18 July 1804, JM Paper SS, vol. 7, pp. 478–79.
32 “cultivate corn, beans”: Clark, winter 1804–5, Estimate of the Eastern Indians, Journals Lewis and Clark.
33 BF and western boundaries: BF to TJ, 8 April 1790, TJ Papers, vol. 16, p. 326.
34 TJ and exploration to the West: TJ to George Rogers Clark, 4 December 1783, TJ Papers, vol. 6, p. 371; Hindle 1956, pp. 325–26.
35 subscription Michaux: American Philosophical Society’s Subscription Agreement for André Michaux’s Western Expedition, c. 22 January 1793 and Editorial Note to Jefferson and André Michaux’s Proposed Western Expedition, 1793, TJ Papers, vol. 25, pp. 75–83.
36 founding fathers and West: Friedenberg 1992, p. 325; Chaplin 2006, pp. 184–85; Brookhiser 1997, pp. 49–50.
37 BF and West: Ross 1929, pp. 67–68; McCoy 1980, pp. 62ff.; BF, “Observations concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c.,” 1755.
38 “placed in the most enviable”: GW, Circular to the States, 8 June 1783, GWW, vol. 26, p. 484.
39 “a storehouse and granary”: GW to Lafayette, 19 June 1788, GW Papers CS, vol. 6, p. 338.
40 “By enlarging the empire” and following quotes: TJ to Representatives of the Territory of Indiana, 28 December 1805, DLC.
41 “a vast wilderness”: William Plumer, 20 October 1803, Brown 1923, p. 13.
42 “prove worse than useless”: Ibid.
43 “like a comet”: Fisher Ames to Christopher Gore, 3 October 1803, Allen 1983, vol. 2, p. 1462.
44 “we already have too much”: Ambrose 2005, p. 101.
45 “the less will it be shaken”: TJ, Second Inaugural Address, 4 March 1805, Ford 1892–99, vol. 8, p. 344.
46 TJ pretended expedition was for commerce: Carlos Martinez de Yrujo to Pedro Cevallos, 2 December 1802; Jefferson’s Confidential Message to Congress, 18 January 1803; Louis André Pichon to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 4 March 1803; Edward Thornton to Lord Hawkesbury, 9 March 1803, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 4, 10–13, 22, 26.
47 “The Feds.… treat it”: TJ to Lewis, 13 January 1804, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 163; see also Ambrose 2005, pp. 78, 410.
48 JA and Louisiana Purchase: JA to Josiah Quincy, 9 February 1811, Adams 1850–56, vol. 9, p. 631.
49 “Travellers in our Wilderness”: JA to Francis Adriaan van der Kemp, 5 November 1804, MHS AP reel 118.
50 JA and Michaux subscription: American Philosophical Society’s Subscription Agreement for André Michaux’s Western Expedition, c. 22 January 1793 and Editorial Note to Jefferson and André Michaux’s Proposed Western Expedition, 1793, TJ Papers, vol. 25, pp. 75–83.
51 “Country is explored and thinly planted”: JA to Francis Adriaan van der Kemp, 5 November 1804 MHS AP reel 118.
52 “I care not a farthing”: JA to Francis Adriaan van der Kemp, 8 January 1806, MHS AP reel 118.
53 “The spirit of party”: JA to Francis Adriaan van der Kemp, 26 January 1802, MHS AP reel 118.
54 “pitiful Bagatelles”: JA to Francis Adriaan van der Kemp, 5 November 1804, MHS AP reel 118.
55 members of expedition: Coues 1970, vol. 1, pp. 2–3.
56 provisions of expedition: Lewis’s List of Requirements & Summary of Purchases, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 69–74, 93–99; Clark to Lewis, April 1804, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 176.
57 “cheap looking Glasses”: Lewis’s List of Requirements & Summary of Purchases, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 72.
58 botanical books: Benjamin Smith Barton’s Elements of Botany (1803); John Miller’s An Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus (1779) and John Miller’s An Illustration of the Termini Botanici of Linnaeus (1789).
59 botanical correspondence at WH: TJ to John Bartram Jr., 11 June 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 34, p. 306; Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz to TJ, 16 June 1801; William Maclure to Jefferson, 20 November 1801, TJ Papers, vol. 35, pp. 361, 706–7; TJ Garden Book, 11, 26 May 1802, Betts 1944, p. 277; TJ to John Bartram Jr., 5 April 1802; TJ to John Bartram Jr., 2 December 1802, Betts 1944, pp. 279–80.
60 fruit trees from St. Louis: John Armstrong to TJ, 20 February 1804, Betts 1944, pp. 294–95.
61 “some slips of the”: Lewis to TJ, 26 March 1804, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 170.
62 “flavor and size”: This was Amelanchier alnifolia, Lewis, 2 August 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark; Cutright 1989, p. 289. For roots against snakebite, see Lewis to TJ, 5 March 1805, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 220.
63 “vastly preferable to”: Lewis, 17 July 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark; Cutrig
ht 1989, p. 172.
64 beatifull bowlinggreen” and following quotes: Lewis, 17 September 1804 and 12 April 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
65 “sweetest” hay: and following quotes, Clark, 4 July 1804, Journals Lewis and Clark.
66 “fertile in the extreem”: Lewis to Lucy Marks, 31 March 1805, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 223.
67 Lewis struck by landscape: Lewis, 22 April 1805 and 30 May 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
68 plants and botanical specimens of the expedition: Journals Lewis and Clark; Munger 2003; Cutright 1989 (in particular pp. 357–75 and Appendix A); Hatch 2003.
69 “virtues and properties”: Lewis to TJ, 7 April 1805, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 231.
70 Lewis sent collection to St. Louis: Lewis to TJ, 7 April 1805, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 231–42.
71 black-tailed prairie dog: Clark, 7 September 1804, and John Ordway, 7 September 1804, Journals Lewis and Clark.
72 Mandan corn at Monticello: TJ to Lewis, 16 August 1809, TJ Papers RS, vol. 1, pp. 436–37; Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 239.
73 winter at Mandan village: Ambrose 2005, pp. 182, 200; Hatch 2003; Lavender 2001, p. 168.
74 Lewis collection arrives at White House: The cargo arrived in St. Louis in May 1805 and in Washington in August 1805 while Jefferson was still in Monticello. Pierre Chouteau to William Henry Harrison, 22 May 1805; Etienne Lemaire to TJ, 12 August 1805. For Jefferson’s “examinations,” see for example TJ to Charles Willson Peale, 9 October 1805, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 242, 253–54, 263.
75 prairie dog and magpie at White House: Etienne Lemaire to TJ, 20 August 1805; TJ to Charles Willson Peale, 6 October 1807, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 256, 260.
76 botanical specimens to American Philosophical Society: Jackson 1978, vol. 1, pp. 239–40; Minutes of APS, 15 November 1805 in Cutright 1989, p. 358.
77 “for an Indian Hall”: TJ to Charles Willson Peale, 6 October 1806, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 260.
78 William Hamilton and seeds: TJ to William Hamilton, 6 November 1805, Betts 1944, p. 307; Minutes of APS, 15 November 1805 in Cutright 1989, p. 358.
79 favorite dinner subjects at White House: Cullen 2005, p. 325; Margaret Bayard Smith, Hunt 1906, p. 50; JQA, 3 November 1807, Adams 1874–77, vol. 1, p. 473.
80 TJ’s interests and experiments: Isaac Briggs to TJ, 11 June 1804, DLC; John P. van Ness to TJ, 5 July 1806, Betts 1944, p. 320; TJ to Thomas Mann Randolph, 1 January 1802, DLC.
81 fossils in East Room: TJ to Caspar Wistar, 20 March 1808, Rice 1951, p. 608; Thomson 2008b, p. 40.
82 grizzly bears: TJ to Charles Willson Peale, 5 November 1807; Charles Willson Peale to TJ, 7 November 1807, Miller 1983–2000, vol. 2, pt. 2, pp. 1041–44; Margaret Bayard Smith in Hunt 1906, p. 393.
83 “a Philosopher at our Head”: William Thornton to JM, 16 March 1801, JM Papers SS, vol. 1, p. 24.
84 “the enlightened philosopher”: Alexander Wilson to William Bartram, 4 March 1805, Hunter 1983, p. 232.
85 Sacagawea and her husband hired as translators: Lewis, 7 April 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
86 “country is as yesterday beatifull”: Lewis, 5 May 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
87 “So perfect indeed are those walls”: Lewis, 31 May 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
88 2,500 miles: Journals Lewis and Clark, Part 3: Miscellany. This is in Clark’s hand, giving mileages for the expedition.
89 “wide expance” and following quotes: Lewis, 8 June 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
90 “disgusted” and following quote: Lewis, 13 June 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
91 “the most sublime of Nature’s works” and following quote: Jefferson 1982, pp. 24, 19.
92 “sublime” in American context: Furtwanger 1999, pp. 23–51; Nygren 1986; for the sublime in England see Burke 1998, Manwaring 1965; for the sublime in gardens see Wulf and Gieben-Gamal 2005, pp. 131–73.
93 “a sort of delightful horror”: Burke 1998, p. 67.
94 “prince of rivers”: Philip Freneau, quoted in Nash 1982, p. 68.
95 “but a rivulet”: JA to Thomas Brand-Hollis, 1 June 1790, MHS AP reel 115.
96 “greater magnificence”: AA to Elizabeth Cranch, 18 July 1786, AFC, vol. 7, p. 257.
97 “the most sublime”: JA to AA, 22 March 1782, MHS online.
98 “this singular landscape”: TJ to John Trumbull, 20 February 1791, TJ Papers, vol. 19, p. 298.
99 “grand objects”: GW to Commissioners of DC, 5 September 1793, GWW, vol. 33, p. 83.
100 “with the intention of”: Samuel Latham Mitchell, 10 January 1802, Mitchell 1879, p. 744.
101 “For these last forty years”: Uvedale Price to GW, 31 March 1798, GW Papers RS, vol. 2, p. 166.
102 “made the satellite larger” and Paine and the American landscape: Thomas Paine, quoted in Marx 1974, pp. 8–10.
103 “Men are like plants”: Crèvecoeur 1998, p. 45.
104 “national character often”: Silliman 1824, p. 18.
105 expedition at Great Falls: Whitehouse, 29 June 1805, and Lewis, 4 June 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark; Ambrose 2005, p. 244.
106 source of Missouri: Lewis, 12 August 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
107 “I shudder with the”: Clark, 14 June 1806; see also Lewis, 2 August 1805, Journals Lewis and Clark.
108 plants in the snow: Lewis, 16 June 1806, Journals Lewis and Clark.
109 “So complete is this deseption”: Lewis, 12 June 1806, Journals Lewis and Clark.
110 “I recieved, my dear Sir”: TJ to Lewis, 26 October 1806, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 350.
111 “a pretty extensive collection”: Lewis to TJ, 23 September 1806, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 323.
112 Frederick Pursh: Cutright 1989, pp. 359–63.
113 “small portion of every kind”: McMahon to TJ, 26 December 1806, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 354.
114 TJ sharing seeds: TJ to McMahon, 6 January 1807, Jackson 1978, vol. 1, p. 356; 20 March 1807, 22 March 1807, TJ to William Hamilton, 22 March 1807, Betts 1944, pp. 343–44.
115 couldn’t do “justice”: TJ to McMahon, 20 March 1807, Betts 1944, p. 343.
116 “public treasures”: TJ to McMahon, 22 March 1807, Betts 1944, p. 344.
117 first precious seedlings: McMahon to TJ, 2 April 1807, 5 April 1807, Jackson 1978, vol. 2, p. 398.
118 “state of preservation”: McMahon to TJ, 27 March 1807, Betts 1944, p. 345.
119 “Some of them are curious”: TJ to Madame de Tessé, 8 December 1813, Betts 1944, p. 520.
120 McMahon’s report on the seedlings: McMahon to TJ, 27 March, 2, 5, 10 April 1807, Betts 1944, pp. 345–47.
121 “plants of every kind”: McMahon to TJ, 27 March 1807; thirty new species, McMahon to TJ, 28 June 1808, Betts 1944, pp. 345, 373.
122 seeds planted in 1807: Betts 1944, pp. 334–35.
123 Lewis’s seeds at Monticello: TJ, 18 April 1807, Betts 1944, pp. 334–35; “Missouri great Salsafia” was Tragopon sp.; “flowering pea of Arkansa” was probably Vicia americana; “Lilly, the yellow of the Columbia” was probably Fritillaria pudica, Cutright 1989, pp. 373–74.
124 “one of the most excellent”: TJ to Benjamin Smith Barton, 6 October 1810, TJ Papers RS, vol. 3, p. 150.
125 “some of the most beautiful berries”: TJ to McMahon, 11 October 1812, TJ Papers RS, vol. 5, p. 382.
126 “addition to our knowledge”: TJ to Bernard Lacépède, 14 July 1808, Betts 1944, p. 373.
127 Lewis’s death: TJ Papers RS, vol. 1, pp. 607–8.
128 “hideous and desolate”: William Bradford, 1620, Morison 1952, p. 62.
129 “temples which Roman robbers”: Charles Fenno Hoffman, 1833, quoted in Nash 1982, p. 73.
130 “monuments of a corrupt religion” and following quote: Browne 1832, p. 403.
131 “one of the principal sources”: Browne 1837, p. 360.
132 “every plant appears to partake”: Browne 1837, p. 338.
133 “our destiny as”: Magoon 1852, p. 3.
&nbs
p; 134 “In no quarter of the globe”: Shaw, Joshua, Picturesque Views of American Scenery, 1820–21, quoted in Nygren 1986, p. 46.
135 TJ collecting landscape prints: Stein 1993, pp. 188–92.
136 “never need an American look beyond”: Washington Irving, 1820; see also Wilson, Alexander, The Forester, 1804, quoted in Nygren 1986, p. 38.
137 “magnitude” of mountains and forests: James Kirke Paulding, 1816, Letters from the South, Letter 13, reprinted in Branch and Philippon 1998, p. 139; see also Kelly and Rasmussen 2000, p. 13.
138 “habit of exalting their own”: Count Carlo Vidua, quoted in Kelly and Rasmussen 2000, p. 14.
139 “needless to go farther than Wales”: Weld 1807, vol. 1, 1807, p. 244.
140 tourist shelters in Catskills: Nygren 1986, p. 38.
141 “Our lofty mountains”: Joshua Shaw’s Picturesque Views of American Scenery, 1820–21, quoted in Nygren 1986, p. 46.
142 landscape engravings: Joshua Shaw’s Picturesque Views of American Scenery, 1820–21 and William Guy Wall’s Hudson River Portfolio (1821–25).
143 backwoods novels: Nash 1982, p. 76.
144 “Our seventeen states”: TJ to Choctaw Nation, 17 December 1803, DLC.
8 “THO’ AN OLD MAN, I AM BUT A YOUNG GARDENER”: THOMAS JEFFERSON AT MONTICELLO
1 TJ’s journey to Monticello: TJ to JM, 17 March 1809, TJ Papers RS, vol. 1, p. 61; Edmund Bacon’s Memoir, Bear 1967, pp. 106–7.
2 “Never did a prisoner”: TJ to Pierre-Samuel Dupont de Nemours, 2 March 1809, Betts 1944, p. 394.
3 “the most tedious of my life”: TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 20 October 1806, Betts and Bear 1986, p. 289.
4 TJ’s daily rides: Ibid.
5 “the enjoyments of rural life”: TJ to Monsieur le Comte Diodati, 29 March 1807, Betts 1944, p. 346.
6 “My views and attentions” and following quotes: TJ to William Hamilton, July 1806, Betts 1944, pp. 323–24.
7 TJ’s correspondence with Anne and Ellen: TJ to Anne Cary Randolph, 8 December 1806, 7 June 1807, 1 November 1807, 24 November 1807, 22 March 1808; Ellen Wayles Randolph to TJ, 11 March 1808; Anne Cary Randolph to TJ, 9 November 1807, 19 February 1808, 18 March 1808, 15 April 1808; TJ to Martha Jefferson Randolph, 18 October 1808; Ellen Wayles Randolph to TJ, 15 December 1808; TJ to Ellen Wayles Randolph, 6 February 1809; Ellen Wayles Randolph to TJ, 1 April 1808, Betts and Bear 1986, pp. 292, 307–8, 312, 314, 316, 328, 337, 332, 334, 339, 342, 351, 371, 380.
