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Meriwether Lewis was not surprised when President Thomas Jefferson wanted to talk to him, as he was
the president's private secretary. However, he was shocked when he found out that President Jefferson wanted him to
scope out the recently purchased Louisiana Territory. He was to head west and to follow the Missouri River to its
source.
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| Thomas Jefferson |
Jefferson wanted Lewis to bring back maps and written notes about: "the soil and face of the country..... the animals of the country, generally, and especially those not known in the U.S...... the mineral production of every kind.....
climate as characterized by..... proportion of rainy, cloudy, and clear days..... the dates at which particular put forth
or lose their flowers..... times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles or insects."
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