Side A: Meriwether Lewis arrived in Marietta on September 13, 1803. His descent of the Ohio River aboard a keelboat began his expedition to explore the West. Included among his crew was 18-year old George Shannon of Barnesville, the only member of the Corps of Discovery known to have been from Ohio. While in Marietta, Lewis wrote a letter to President Thomas Jefferson. In updating his journal, he wrote,”This evening was visited by Colo. [Griffen] Green the Postmaster at this place.” On September 14, Lewis and his party camped in Washington County, one mile above the mouth of the Little Kanawha River. The following morning they continued down river to rendezvous with William Clark. On October 14, they arrived at the Falls of the Ohio in the Indiana Territory, where Clark lived with his older brother George Rogers Clark.
Side B: Thomas Jefferson President of the UStates On board my boat opposite Marietta September 13, 1803. Dear Sir, I arrived here at 7 P.M. and shall pursue my journey early tomorrow. This place is one hundred miles distant from Wheeling, from whence in descending the water is reather more abundant than it is between that place and Pittsburgh, insomuch that I have been enabled to get on without the necessity of employing oxen or horses to drag my boat over the ripples I find them most efficient sailors in present state of the navigation of this river, although they may be considered somewhat clumsey. I have the honour to be with much respect Your Obt. Servt. Meriwether Lewis Capt. 1st U.S. Regt. Infty.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.