William Clark returned to St. Louis and the east coast to great fanfare
and accolades. Although his promotion to Lt. Colonel was not immediately
passed, he quickly impressed his superiors with his abilities and was eventually
made head of Indian Affairs in St. Louis. There with his wife and children,
as well as Sakakawea’s child Pomp, he was widely liked and admired–quite
the opposite of Meriwether Lewis. Among the tasks Clark sought to conclude
was a comprehensive Indian policy based on the fur trade and protecting
Indian interests up river, something he was less than successful in achieving.
He served in his post until the 1830's, in time to meet some of the great
artists such as Karl Bodmer and George Catlin in 1832. Before he died in
1838, he was saddened with the news of a great smallpox epidemic that wiped
out large numbers of Mandan people, the tribe that had proved so helpful
to the Corps of Discovery thirty years earlier.
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