Trade with American Indians

From Exhibition: A More Perfect Union: Congress and the War of 1812 Part 2 Congress and the War of 1812 II
Category:
Exploration

In 1803, while the United States was negotiating the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, President Thomas Jefferson sent a confidential message to Congress proposing exploration of the region. Mindful of Congress’s authority to regulate commerce, Jefferson emphasized the need for better knowledge about American Indians of the Northwest in order to develop trade. Congress authorized and funded an expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. An 1806 report to Congress with data gathered by Lewis and Clark confirmed the territory’s commercial potential.

In all your intercourse with the natives, . . . make them acquainted with the position, extent character, peaceable & commercial dispositions of the US . . . & of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them

Thomas Jefferson, Instructions to Meriwether Lewis, June 20, 1803
 

“Captains Lewis and Clark Holding a Council with the Indians,” etching by Patrick Gass, Journals of the . . . Corps of Discovery, 1810

“Captains Lewis and Clark Holding a Council with the Indians,” etching by Patrick Gass, Journals of the . . . Corps of Discovery, 1810

The expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered nearly 50 American Indian tribes during a two-year journey to the Pacific Coast and back. Lewis and Clark sought to establish good relations as a basis for trade.

Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
President Thomas Jefferson’s confidential message to Congress on western exploration, January 18, 1803

President Thomas Jefferson’s confidential message to Congress on western exploration, January 18, 1803

On January 18, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson requested congressional appropriations for an expedition to extend “the external commerce of the U.S.” Noting that another country had a flourishing fur trade with Native Americans to the north, he stressed the need to find a route to the Pacific and establish trade relationships with western tribes.

Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
List of supplies for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, ca. June 1803

List of supplies for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, ca. June 1803

With $2,500 appropriated by Congress, expedition leader Meriwether Lewis purchased supplies for the journey. His list of items requisitioned from the War Department included food, clothing, munitions, tools, and medicine. Lewis reserved a large portion of the budget for gifts to be given to American Indians to establish peaceful relations and stimulate trade.

Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, National Archives and Records Administration
President Thomas Jefferson’s instructions to Meriwether Lewis, June 20, 1803

President Thomas Jefferson’s instructions to Meriwether Lewis, June 20, 1803

President Thomas Jefferson gave Meriwether Lewis detailed instructions for the expedition. While its primary mission was to explore waterways for a route to the Pacific Ocean, commerce with inhabitants of the region was a major goal. Jefferson specified the kinds of information Lewis should obtain about any American Indian nations he might encounter.

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The commerce which may be carried on with the people inhabiting the line you will pursue, renders a knolege [sic] of those people important. You will therefore endeavor to make yourself acquainted . . . with the names of the nations & their numbers; . . . their possessions; their relations . . . ; language, traditions, monuments; . . . occupations . . . ; food, clothing, & domestic accommodations; . . . diseases . . . , & . . .  remedies . . . ;  . . . their laws, customs . . . ; and articles of commerce they may need or furnish & to what extent.

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Estimate of the Eastern Indians, chart by William Clark, 1805

Estimate of the Eastern Indians, chart by William Clark, 1805

In the winter of 1805, William Clark compiled information gathered through interpreters about the populations and commerce of 72 American Indian tribes residing east of the Rocky Mountains. Submitted to Congress by President Thomas Jefferson in 1806, the statistics were later published.

American Philosophical Society