Lewis and Clark on the Great Road

The Great Road, a thoroughfare linking the Valley of Virginia to the interior of North America, passed through Abingdon. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark used this route when returning to the East after their expedition to the Pacific Ocean (1803-06). Lewis, with a group of Native Americans from present-day North Dakota, passed here late in 1806 on his way to report to Pres. Thomas Jefferson. Clark followed separately, reaching Fincastle, VA, in Jan. 1807 to visit his future wife, Julia Hancock. He passed here again on his way from St. Louis for their wedding in Jan. 1808. On an eastward journey in 1809, Clark spent the night of 12 Nov. in or near Abingdon, possibly at the William King House.