Pocket compass from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1804
name: label: user
content: Clark, William
label: maker
content: Whitney, Thomas
notes: label: Description
content: In the spring of 1803, Meriwether Lewis began to purchase scientific and mathematical instruments for a pending expedition into the northwestern region of North America. Among the items he purchased from Philadelphia instrument maker Thomas Whitney were three pocket compasses for $2.50 each, and this silver-plated pocket compass for $5. It has a mahogany box, a silver-plated brass rim that is graduated to degrees and numbered in quadrants from north and south, a paper dial, two small brass sight vanes, and a leather carrying case. Whether Lewis purchased the silver compass for himself or intended it as a special gesture for William Clark is not known.
label: Description
content: Following the instructions of President Thomas Jefferson, the Corps of Discovery, under the leadership of Lewis and Clark, ascended the Missouri River in May 1804 to obtain detailed information on the natural resources of the region, to search for a northwest passage, and to make official diplomatic contact with Indian leaders.
label: Description
content: By the time they returned to St. Louis in September 1806, few of the instruments that were purchased for the trip had survived the journey. The pocket compass, however, was kept by Clark as a memento. He later gave the compass to his friend, Capt. Robert A. McCabe, whose heirs donated it in 1933 to the Smithsonian Institution.
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: related event
content: Lewis and Clark Expedition
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, General History Collection
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content: Government, Politics, and Reform
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content: Military
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Transportation
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content: Measuring & Mapping
label: Exhibition
content: American Presidency
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Mary McCabe
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.038366
label: catalog number
content: 38366
label: accession number
content: 122864
objectType: label: Object Name
content: compass, pocket
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood, mahogany (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: silver plate (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: closed: 3 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in x 1 1/2 in; 8.89 cm x 8.89 cm x 3.81 cm