William Clark was the older of the two captains, and he had much less familiarity with life on the western frontier. His exposure to the west began with the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Clark excelled at finding practical solutions to whatever the problem. As a cartographer, or map maker, he was without peer. What made Clark so marvelous as a cartographer, even though his maps look to us today as being a bit crude, was that he had the incredible instinct and feel for the landscape. He seemed to know what was the most logical direction for a river to take, once it got out of his line of vision. He had the ability to recognize the landscape and convert what he saw in a horizontal perspective into a vertical map perspective.
He had a much better career after the expedition than Lewis. He was promoted to General of Militia and became Superintendent of Indian Affairs until his death in 1838. He was popular with the Indians and kept peace among the Indians on the Mississippi River.
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The Louisiana Purchase "Opens" the West
