Day-by-Day / July 7, 1803

July 7, 1803

Testing rifles

While he waits for the expedition’s goods to be shipped from Harpers Ferry, Meriwether Lewis tests the rifles and inspects other items manufactured at the armory.

Reproduction 1792 Militia Rifle Lock

Harpers Ferry rifle lock

© 2015 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

The inscription on the lock reads “Harpers Ferry, 1803”.

12. O,Clock.
Harper’s Ferry July 8th. 1803.

Dear Sir,

. . . . .

Yesterday I shot my guns and examined the several articles which had been manufactered for me at this place; they appear to be well executed.—

. . . . .

Your friend & Obt. Servt.

Meriwether Lewis[1]Meriwether Lewis to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0521 accessed 11 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas … Continue reading

Related: The Expedition Weaponry

 

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Notes

Notes
↑1 Meriwether Lewis to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0521 accessed 11 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 40, 4 March–10 July 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 680–681.]

Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).