VIII. VIII
JEFFERSON TO DR. CASPAR WISTAR.[1]
VIII. [Extract—from Ford, viii, p. 192.]
Washington, Feb. 28, 1803.
Dear Sir: The enclosed sheets may contain some details which
perhaps may be thought interesting enough for the transactions of our
society. They were forwarded to me by Mr. Dunbar with a couple of
vocabularies which I retain to be added to my collection.
What follows is to be perfectly confidential. I have at length
succeeded in procuring an essay to be made of exploring the Missouri
& whatever river heading with that, runs into the western Ocean.
Congress by a secret authority enables me to do it. A party of about
10. chosen men headed by an officer will immediately set out. We
cannot in the U. S. find a person who to courage, prudence, habits &
health adapted to the woods, & some familiarity with the Indian
character, joins a perfect knowledge of botany, natural history, mineralogy
& astronomy, all of which would be desirable. To the first qualifications
Captain Lewis my secretary adds a great mass of accurate
observation made on the different subjects of the three kingdoms as
existing in these states, not under their scientific forms, but so as that
he will readily seize whatever is new in the country he passes thro',
and give us accounts of new things only; and he has qualified himself
for fixing the longitude & latitude of the different points in the line he
will go over. I have thought it would be useful to confine his attention
to those objects only on which information is most deficient & most
desirable: & therefore would thank you to make a note on paper of
those which occur to you as most desirable for him to attend to. He
will be in Philadelphia within two or three weeks & will call on you.
Any advice or hints you can give him will be thankfully received &
usefully applied. I presume he will compleate his tour there & back
in two seasons. Accept assurances of my sincere esteem & high
respect.
