William Clark ( explorer ) William Clark ( August 1 , 1770 – September 1 , 1838 ) was an American explorer , soldier , Indian agent , and territorial governor . A native of Virginia , he grew up in prestatehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Missouri . Clark was a planter and slaveholder . Along with Meriwether Lewis , Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803 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 . Afterward , he served in a militia and as governor of the Missouri Territory . From 1822 until his death in 1838 , he served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs . Early life . William Clark was born in Caroline County , Virginia , on August 1 , 1770 , the ninth of ten children of John and Ann Rogers Clark . His parents were natives of King and Queen County , and were of English and possibly Scots ancestry . The Clarks were common planters in Virginia , owners of modest estates and a few slaves , and members of the Anglican Church . Clark did not have any formal education ; like many of his contemporaries , he was tutored at home . In later years , he was self - conscious about his convoluted grammar and inconsistent spelling — he spelled " Sioux " 27 different ways in his journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition — and sought to have his journals corrected before publication . The spelling of American English was not standardized in Clark ' s youth , but his vocabulary suggests he was well read . Clark ' s five older brothers fought in Virginia units during the American Revolutionary War ( 1775 – 1783 ) , but William was too young . His oldest brother , Jonathan Clark , served as a colonel during the war , rising to the rank of brigadier general in the Virginia militia years afterward . His second - oldest brother , George Rogers Clark , rose to the rank of general , spending most of the war in Kentucky fighting against British - allied American Indians . After the war , the two oldest Clark brothers made arrangements for their parents and family to relocate to Kentucky . William , his parents , his three sisters , and the Clark family ' s slaves arrived in Kentucky in March 1785 , having first traveled overland to Redstone Landing in present - day Brownsville , Pennsylvania . They completed the journey down the Ohio River by flatboat . The Clark family settled at " Mulberry Hill " , a plantation along Beargrass Creek near Louisville . This was William Clark ' s primary home until 1803 . In Kentucky , his older brother George Rogers Clark taught William wilderness survival skills . Military career begins . Kentuckians fought the Northwest Indian War against American Indians , who were trying to preserve their territory north of the Ohio River . In 1789 , 19 - year - old William Clark joined a volunteer militia force under Major John Hardin . Clark kept a detailed journal of the expedition , beginning a lifelong practice . Hardin was advancing against the Wea Indians , who had been raiding settlements in Kentucky , on the Wabash River . In error , the undisciplined Kentucky militia attacked a peaceful Shawnee hunting camp , where they killed a total of eight men , women , and children . In 1790 , Clark was commissioned by General Arthur St . Clair , governor of the Northwest Territory , as a captain in the Clarksville , Indiana militia . One older source says he was sent on a mission to the Creek and Cherokee , whom the US hoped to keep out of the war , in the Southeast . His responsibilities are unclear . He may have visited New Orleans at that time . His travels prevented him from participating in General Josiah Harmar ' s disastrous campaign into the Northwest Territory that year . In 1791 , Clark served as an ensign and acting lieutenant with expeditions under generals Charles Scott and James Wilkinson . He enlisted in the Legion of the United States and was commissioned as a lieutenant on March 6 , 1792 under Anthony Wayne . On September 4 , 1792 he was assigned to the 4th Sub - Legion . He was involved in several skirmishes with Indians during the continuing Northwest Indian War . At the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 , Clark commanded a company of riflemen who drove back the enemy on the left flank , killing a number of Native Americans and Canadians . This decisive US victory brought the Northwest Indian War to an end . In 1795 , Clark was dispatched on a mission to New Madrid , Missouri . Clark also served as an adjutant and quartermaster while in the militia . Lewis and Clark Expedition . William Clark resigned his commission on July 4 , 1796 and retired due to poor health , although he was only 26 years old . He returned to Mulberry Hill , his family ' s plantation near Louisville . In 1803 , Meriwether Lewis recruited Clark , then age 33 , to share command of the newly formed Corps of Discovery , whose mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase , establish trade with Native Americans and the sovereignty of the US . They were to find a waterway from the US to the Pacific Ocean and claim the Oregon territory for the United States before European nations did . Clark spent three years on the expedition to the Pacific Coast . A slave owner known to deal harshly with his slaves , he brought York , one of his slaves , with him . York did manual labor in extreme weather and received no compensation . The indigenous nations treated York with respect , and many of the Native Americans were interested in his appearance , which " played a key role in diplomatic relations " . Although Clark was refused a promotion to the rank of captain when Jefferson asked the Senate to appoint him , at Lewis ' insistence , he exercised equal authority , and continued the mission . Clark concentrated chiefly on the drawing of maps , the management of the expedition ' s supplies , and leading hunting expeditions for game . Indigenous nations and war . In 1807 , President Jefferson appointed Clark as the brigadier general of the militia in the Louisiana Territory , and the US agent for Indian affairs . At the time , trade was a major goal and the US established the factory system . The government and its appointees licensed traders to set up trading posts in Native American territory . Native American relations were handled in what became the War Department . Clark set up his headquarters in St . Louis , Missouri . There he became a member of the Freemasons , a secret fraternal group . The records of his initiation do not exist , but on September 18 , 1809 , Saint Louis Lodge No . 111 issued a traveling certificate for Clark . As a reward for their contributions during their expedition to the Pacific Lewis and Clark were given government positions . Jefferson appointed Meriwether Lewis territorial governor of upper Louisiana , commander - in - chief of the militia , and superintendent of Indian Affairs . Although he was in charge of Indian affairs he was still under the supervision of the Governor of the Louisiana territory . The governor had final say of all decisions made in the territory . Although Clark had primary duties in dealing with the Native Americans , " the territorial governor held the title of ex officio superintendent of Indian affairs . The experiences he obtained during his expedition gave him the tools he needed to be the ideal candidate for a diplomat to the Native Americans . That was Jefferson ' s motives behind giving Clark these duties , although it would not be until Madison ' s presidency would Clark ' s title become official . President James Madison appointed him Missouri territorial governor and thus ex officio superintendent of Indian affairs , during the summers of 1808 and 1813 ; he performed the same duties that he would have if he actually held the title . During the years while Clark held position under Governor Lewis he was continuously involved in the decision making process done by Lewis . Clark was consulted on affairs on a regular basis . Clark served the United States government as the longest diplomat to the Native American people in history . Indian diplomacy occupied much of Clark ' s time ; the dutiful soldier and bureaucrat never wavered in his commitment to an expansionist national agenda that expected Indians to surrender their lands , abandon their traditional ways , and acquiesce to the dictates of the U . S . government , but the consequences of the very policies that Clark so vigorously championed frequently moved him to demonstrate genuine concern for the plight of destitute native people increasingly threatened with extinction . Clarks expeditions and frontier settlement gave him a unique aspect on his views and feelings towards Native Americans . Clark never got too high or low as it pertained to the Indians . He felt as though he held a firm hand when he had to , but at the same time he had passion towards them as people still deserving of rights . At times he was said to be too compassionate . Clark took his position as one of extreme importance to not only the government of the United States , but to the Native American people as well . Clark recognized Indians ' nationalism , their history , language , culture and territory and negotiated treaties between the various nations and his . He tried to protect Indians and preserve their culture by removing them from the evil influences of white society , providing life - saving inoculations , having their portraits painted , and assembling a museum of Indian artifact . At the same time , he removed Indians from the ancestral lands , encouraged federal " civilization " and " education " programs to change native lifestyles , religious beliefs , and cultural practices , and unusually promoted the interests of American citizens over Indian needs and desires . During the War of 1812 , he led several campaigns , among them in 1814 , one along the Mississippi River , up to the Prairie du Chien - area . He established the short - lived Fort Shelby , the first post in what is now Wisconsin . Soon , the post was captured by the British . When the Missouri Territory was formed in 1813 , Clark was appointed as the governor by President Madison . He was reappointed to the position by Madison in 1816 , and in 1820 by President Monroe . William Clark appeared before Supreme Court Judge John B . C . Lucas in St . Louis on July 6 , 1813 , to take the oath of office as governor of the Missouri Territory . Clark ' s road to a gubernatorial appointment was long and complex . Upon Lewis appointment by Jefferson , Clark backed him and at times filled the role a governor without actually holding official position due to Lewis ' complication in life , whether it was debt , loneliness , or drinking . Upon the death of Lewis in 1809 , Clark declined to take office for varying reasons . By the time he was appointed governor he appreciated his capabilities to hold office and embraced them rather than turning them away . At his arrival into office America was involved in the War of 1812 with the British . Clark feared the influence the British would have on the Native Americans . British tactics would include the use of Indians as allies in the fighting against the United States . In return for British victory , Indians would either be able to continue to occupy their current land or receive lands back that were taken from them previously by the United States Government . Clark would hold office for the next seven years until he was voted out of office in 1820 . When Missouri became a state in 1820 , Clark was defeated in the election for governor by Alexander McNair . In 1822 , Clark was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs by President Monroe , a new position created by Congress after the factory system was abolished . Clark remained in that position until his death ; his title changed with the creation of the Office of Indian Affairs in 1824 and finally the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1829 , both within the War Department . From 1824 to 1825 , he was additionally appointed surveyor general of Illinois , Missouri and the Territory of Arkansaw . Being the Superintendent of Indian Affairs made Clark the most important man on Native American matters west of the Mississippi . As superintendent at St . Louis , Clark took on some additional duties : he issued licenses and granted passports to traders and travelers ; provided payments for injuries and injustices to both whites and Indians ; invoked military force to arrest lawbreakers ; prevented or terminated hostilities between tribes ; removed unauthorized persons from Indian country or confiscated their property ; established , marked , and surveyed boundaries ; distributed annuities and made sure that treaty provisions were delivered ; and conducted treaty councils . Of the four superintendents of Indian affairs the others were the governors of Michigan , Florida and Arkansas territories , Clark had by far the largest superintendency . Though Clark tried to maintain peaceful relations with indigenous nations and negotiated peace treaties , he was involved in President Andrew Jackson ' s Indian removal policy . This included " his duty to oversee removal " . He managed retaliation against Black Hawk and those allied with him in the Black Hawk War , when hostilities arose between them and the Americans . Clark issued " an extermination order " , which he gave to Lewis Cass , a man who played a central role in Jackson ' s removal policy . Clark believed in the Jeffersonian ideology in which assimilation would be the best course of action for Native Americans . However , in the end , relocation of the Indians from their native lands became the government ' s primary goal . Clark ' s government position on Native American affairs kept him at the forefront of countless relocations . He expressed sympathy for those uprooted tribes and promoted their interests as he understood them , nevertheless , he agreed with and implemented the policy of Indian removal , negotiating 37 , or one - tenth , of all ratified treaties between American Indians and the United States . Over the course of his career , millions of acres passed from Indian to U . S . ownership through Clark ' s hand . Marriage and family . After returning from his cross - country expedition , Clark married Julia Hancock on January 5 , 1808 , at Fincastle , Virginia . They had five children : Meriwether Lewis Clark , Sr . ( 1809 – 1881 ) , named after his friend and expedition partner ; William Preston Clark ( 1811 – 1840 ) ; Mary Margaret Clark ( 1814 – 1821 ) ; George Rogers Hancock Clark ( 1816 – 1858 ) , named after Clark ' s older brother ; and John Julius Clark ( 1818 – 1831 ) , named after his oldest brother Jonathan and Clark ' s wife . After Julia ' s death in 1820 , William Clark married Julia ' s first cousin , Harriet Kennerly Radford . They had three children together : Jefferson Kearny Clark ( 1824 – 1900 ) , named after the president ; Edmund Clark ( 1826 – 1827 ) , named after another of his older brothers ; and Harriet Clark , named after her mother ( dates unknown ; died as child ) . His second wife Harriet died in 1831 . Clark died in St . Louis on September 1 , 1838 at age 68 . He was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery , where a gray granite obelisk was erected to mark his grave . The cemetery has been designated a National Historic Landmark .