11, 1807. Congress was then in session, and,
agreeably to the promises that had been held out to the explorers,
the Secretary of War (General Henry Dearborn), secured from that body
the passage of an act granting to each member of the expedition
a considerable tract of land from the public domain. To each
private and non-commissioned officer was given three hundred acres;
to Captain Clark, one thousand acres, and to Captain Lewis fifteen
hundred acres. In addition to this, the two officers were given
double pay for their services during the time of their absence.
Captain Lewis magnanimously objected to receiving more land for his
services than that given to Captain Clark.
Captain Lewis resigned from the army, March 2, 1807, having been
nominated to be Governor of Louisiana Territory a few days before.
His commission as Governor was dated March 3 of that year.
He was thus made the Governor of all the territory of the United States
west of the Mississippi River. About the same time, Captain Clark
was appointed a general of the territorial militia and Indian agent
for that department.
Originally, the territory acquired from France was divided into the District
of New Orleans and the District of Louisiana, the first-named being
the lower portion of the territory and bounded on the north by a line
which now represents the northern boundary of the State of Louisiana;
and all above that line was known as the District of Louisiana.
