76 Stour City Academy of Science and Letters. 
Copies of all the requisitions of Capt. Lewis were 
obtained from the old Government records of a hundred 
years ago. In reading these old requisition lists and 
receipts I have been astonished at two things. These 
are, first, the small amount of supplies of all kinds that 
were called for, and second, the wonderful foresight of 
Capt. Lewis displayed in the choice he made. But when 
one remembers that every article had to be transported 
by the members of the party, as there were then no rail- 
roads in the United States and no steamboats on the 
rivers they must ascend, one will understand that every 
ounce of surplus weight must be avoided. This is reason 
enough for the small quantity taken. And as to the fore- 
sight of Capt. Lewis, we know that as soon as he was 
chosen by President Jefferson to lead the party he went 
to Philadelphia and there passed several months in 
hard study under competent masters, in preparing him- 
self for all the duties that would devolve upon him as 
leader. He studied geology, botany, surveying and medi- 
cal science, and in every possible way prepared himself 
for all coming emergencies. Thus he became able to 
foresee the needs of his party and so to provide for them 
in his requisitions for his supplies. 
In my search for these lists I was fortunate in having 
a friend at Washington who had the knowledge and 
influence as well as love for work of this kind to enable 
him to succeed where I should, if working alone, prob- 
ably have failed. This was Prof. E. E. Stacey, a teacher 
in the public schools of Washington. To him I owe my 
success in obtaining these copies of the old records. 
Armed with a letter from a Congressman the doors 
of the War Department were open to him, but in answer 
to his letter to the Secretary of War he received the 
following: 
“Washington, Mar. 2, 1904. 
“Nothing has been found of record to show the char- 
acter of the camping equipment taken by the Lewis and 
Clark expedition up the Missouri River, or relative to the 
aid, if any, rendered the expedition by the Sec. of War, 
except that instructions were issued by the War Dept. 
