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DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit:
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-second day of January, in the
thirty-eighth year of the independence of the United States of
America, A.D. 1814, Bradford and Inskeep, of the said district,
have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right
whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:
"History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and
Clark, to the Sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky
Mountains, and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean.
Performed during the Years 1804-5-6, by order of the Government of
the United States. Prepared for the press by Paul Allen, Esquire."
In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled
"An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies
of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such
copies during the times therein mentioned." And also to the act,
entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, entitled, "An act for
the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps,
charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies
during the times therein mentioned," and extending the benefits
thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical
and other prints."
DAVID CALDWELL,
Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
In presenting these volumes to the public, the editor owes equally to
himself and to others, to state the circumstances which have preceded
the publication, and to explain his own share in compiling them.
It was the original design of captain Lewis to have been himself the
editor of his own travels, and he was on his way towards Philadelphia
for that purpose when his sudden death frustrated these intentions.
After a considerable and unavoidable delay, the papers connected with
the expedition were deposited with another gentleman, who, in order to
render the lapse of time as little injurious as possible, proceeded
immediately to collect and investigate all the materials within his
reach.
Of the incidents of each day during the expedition, a minute journal was
kept by captain Lewis or captain Clark, and sometimes by both, which was
afterwards revised and enlarged at the different periods of leisure
which occurred on the route. These were carefully perused in conjunction
with captain Clark himself, who was able from his own recollection of
the journey, as well as from a constant residence in Louisiana since his
return, to supply a great mass of explanations, and much additional
information with regard to part of the route which has been more
recently explored. Besides these, recourse was had to the manuscript
journals kept by two of the serjeants, one of which, the least minute
and valuable, has already been published. That nothing might be wanting
to the accuracy of these details, a very intelligent and active member
of the party, Mr. George Shannon, was sent to contribute whatever his
memory might add to this accumulated fund of information.
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