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When Meriwether Lewis returned to the eastern United States after his
explorations, he carried with him the unedited copies of his and William
Clark’s journals of the trip. These journals contained a treasure-trove
of information on people encountered, terrain, flora and fauna, and navigation.
It is suspected that as a result of Lewis’s growing mental illness
and other personal problems, he was incapable of getting to the editing
job. Jefferson constantly wrote to Lewis asking about the project and
its completion, only to be met with virtual silence. After his death in
1809, the journals were returned to Washington where other editors took
up the job. In the interim, Patrick Gass, one of the Corps of Discovery
members, published his journals of the trip and its findings. This caused
both Jefferson and Lewis considerable distress, and probably added to
Lewis’s declining frame of mind.
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