(1770-1838) - Explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor of Missouri, William Clark was born on August 1, 1770 in Caroline County, Virginia. He moved with his family to Louisville, Kentucky in 1785 and joined the militia in 1789. In 1796 he left the army and in 1803, Captain Meriwether Lewis invited him to share the leadership in the Corps of Discovery. For the next three years, they and their men explored the vast uncharted area newly acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, with Clark acting as mapmaker and artist. After Clark's successful return from the Pacific coast three years later, President Jefferson awarded him 1,600 acres and made him brigadier general of militia for the Louisiana Territory as well as superintendent of Indian affairs. From 1813 to 1832, Clark served as governor of the Missouri Territory. Clark died of natural causes in St. Louis on September 1, 1838