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LEWIS, Meriwether (1774-1809), Explorer . Autograph document signed ("Meriwether Lewis Capt. 1 s t US. Regt. Infty"), n.p., 12 February 1807. 1 page, oblong 8vo, docketed on verso, minor browning along folds, otherwise fine. MERIWETHER LEWIS, "THE GREATEST PATHFINDER THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER KNOWN," ON THE EVE OF HIS NOMINATION AS THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY A rare autograph document of Virginia-born Meriwether Lewis, leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition which charted a path across the North American continent. Here, three months after his return from the epic overland expedition and following his resignation from the army, Lewis draws his salary. At this date, he and Clark were in Washington awaiting final approval of the account and expenses of the expedition and, more importantly, for Lewis's nomination as Governor of the Louisiana Territory, which Jefferson submitted on 28 February, a few weeks after this document. The nomination was approved by the Senate on 2 March. Lewis acknowledges receipt of his pay: "Received February 12 t h 1807 of Caleb Snow Paymaster of the Army of the United States, Two hundred dollars, in pursuance of a warrant from General Henry Dearborn, secretary of War, N o. 1003, being an account of my pay and subsistence for which sum I am accountable to the Accountant of the Department of War, having signed duplicates hereof." Lewis, the son of a Revolutionary War officer, joined the militia in 1794 to aid in quelling the insurrection known as the Whiskey Rebellion. After continuing his military service in the regular army where he rose to the rank of Captain, Lewis was invited by President Thomas Jefferson to serve as his private secretary. In 1803, though, Lewis happily relinquished his sedentary White House duties to take command of the party sent from St. Louis to survey and explore the vast lands just acquired from France (see notes to lot 110). Lewis chose William Clark a former comrade and son of the well-known George Rogers Clark as his second-in-command. Their epic cross-continental explorations lasted two years, culminating in their reaching the Pacific in November of 1805. On Jefferson's instructions careful notes of the geography, natural history and Native American cultures were kept on the trip, and their extraordinary achievement paved the way for American settlement of the West. Upon his return, Lewis was rewarded with the governorship of the Louisiana territory (embracing all the lands north of the present state of Louisiana), but subsequently at age 25, en route to Washington, met a violent death at a backwoods tavern in Tennessee (11 October 1809). DOCUMENTS SIGNED BY THE HEAD OF THE LEWIS AND CLARKE EXPEDITION HAVE BECOME RARE: the most recent examples at auction are one dated 13 April 1809 signed simply "Meriwether Lewis," part of the Byron Reed Collection (sale, Christie's, 8 October 1996, lot 207, $8,500) and one dated 24 August 1809 (sale, Christie's, 7 May 1996, $14,000).