founded the first Bible school west of the mountains. A venerable
figure, he died in 1824, having lived to see the valley which he had
entered a wilderness settled by hundreds of thousands, and the state
which he had helped to found become one of the greatest in the Union.

* * * * *

By the end of the eighteenth century, the country between the
Alleghanies and the Mississippi was fairly well known, first through the
explorations of such pioneers as Boone and Clark and Kenton, and, later
on, through the steady advance of civilization, forever throwing new
outposts westward. But beyond the great river stretched a mighty
wilderness whose character and extent were only guessed at. The United
States, of course, had little interest in it, since it belonged to
France, and since, east of the river, there were millions of acres as
yet unsettled; but when, in 1803, President Jefferson purchased it of
Napoleon Bonaparte for the sum of fifteen million dollars, all that was
changed. By that purchase, the area of the United States was more than
doubled; but there were many people at the time who opposed the purchase
on the ground that the country east of the river would never be
thoroughly settled and that there would be no use whatever for the great
territory west of it. So mistaken, sometimes, is human foresight!

The President determined that this great addition to the Nation should
be explored without delay, and, securing from Congress the necessary
powers, he appointed his private secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to
head an expedition to the Pacific.

Lewis was at that time twenty-nine years of age. He seems to have been
of an adventurous disposition for, despite the fact that he inherited a
fortune, he enlisted in the army as a private as soon as he was of age.
Five years later, he had risen to the rank of captain, and, attracting
the attention of President Jefferson, he was appointed his secretary. He
proved to be so capable and enterprising that the President selected him
for this dangerous and arduous task of exploration. With him was
associated Lieutenant William Clark, a brother of that hardy adventurer,
George Rogers Clark.

William Clark, who was eighteen years younger than his famous brother,
had joined him in Kentucky in 1784, at the age of fourteen, and soon
became acquainted with the perils of Indian warfare. He was appointed
ensign in the army four years later, and rose to the