“When the grass is green,” said Lewis, “I shall lead my young men toward the setting sun. We shall make new trails.”
Jussaume, McCracken, and all the others held their own council with the leaders of the expedition.
“What are you doing here?” they demanded. “The Missouri has always belonged to the British traders.”
The face of Meriwether Lewis flushed with anger.
“We are about the business of our government,” he said. “It is our purpose to discover the West beyond here, all of it. It is our own country that we are discovering. We have bought it and paid for it, and will hold it. We carry the news of the great purchase to the natives.”
“Purchase? What purchase?” demanded McCracken.
And then the face of Lewis lightened, for he knew that they had outrun all the news of the world!
“The Louisiana Purchase—the purchase of all this Western country from the Mississippi to the Pacific, across the Stony Mountains. We bought it from Napoleon, who had it from Spain. We are the wedge to split the British from the South—the Missouri is our own pathway into our own country. That is our business here!”
“You must go back!” said the hot-headed Irishman. “I shall tell my factor, Chaboillez, at Fort Assiniboine. We want no more traders here. This is our country!”