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Meriwether Lewis (1774 -1809) was an American explorer of the frontier. He was the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which President Thomas Jefferson commissioned to explore and map the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. The Lewis and Clark Expedition is more formally referred to as the Corps of Discovery.
Herein, why was Lewis shot during the expedition?
While hunting for elk along the Missouri River, Meriwether Lewis is shot in the hip, probably by one of his own men. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had embarked on their epic journey to the Pacific two years earlier. However, he periodically had to take time to stop and hunt for game to feed the hardworking men.
Likewise, what was Clark's role in the expedition?
Clark was a planter and slaveholder. Along with Meriwether Lewis, Clark helped lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to 1806 across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean, and claimed the Pacific Northwest for the United States. Before the expedition, he served in a militia and the United States Army.
The members of the Corps of Discovery were soldiers, but their purpose was peaceful -- exploration, diplomacy, and science. Lewis was commissioned as a Captain of the Army of the United States, Clark as a Lieutenant (although this inferior rank was kept secret from the men, and Clark was always called "Captain").