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the river, progress was slow, thus affording opportunity for a consider- 

 able amount of collecting to be done. During the ascent of the river 

 quite an extensive collection of plants was made, but this had to be left 

 behind when the Rocky Mountains were crossed, and was consequently 

 lost. During the much more hurried return of the expedition another 

 collection was made, but it was much smaller than the first, and compar- 

 atively few species seem to have been collected about St. Louis. While 

 this expedition did but little for St. Louis botany directly, it turned 

 the public attention to this section, and finally led to careful botanical 

 exploration by a number of capable botanists a few years later. 



Captain Meriwether Lewis 3 was born near the town of Charlottes- 

 ville, Virginia, on August 18, 1774. His family was one of the most 



Fig. 1. Captain Meriwether Lewis ; from Analectic Magazine 

 and Naval Chronicle, Vol. 7, 1816. 



distinguished of that state. Several of bis uncles were very prominent 

 in their time, one of them having married a sister of George Washing- 



3 Jefferson, Thomas, '"Biography of Capt. Lewis in Analectic Magazine and 

 Naval Chronicle," 7: 329-333, 1816. 



Allen, Paul, " History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains 

 Lewis and Clark," etc., 1814, reprint by New Amsterdam Book Company. 



