It’s not clear exactly when Lewis met Clark, who would be his superior, and on his own business in the city-state that was Fort Greenville. (Nor if Lewis saw or met Little Turtle before his visit to Washington in January 1802.)
For Lewis and Clark, one can have the Hollywood meet-cute from across the fort, smoke parting at just the right moment.
One can believe they’d met before in Virginia, even though the age, the location, and the Revolution complicate all of those possibilities.
One can see Lewis not even meeting Clark until he’s transferred into his unit, a stroke of luck that would make the future expedition even singular.
One can see Lewis learn that George Rogers’ brother is here and wanting to know more about the famed Virginian, the “Hannibal of the West,” seeks out Clark, almost like a fan boy.
Or, most likely, one can see them running into the other on any given day, and, as a matter of being friendly, asking about where they’re from, how they got to Ohio, and slowly revealing they know more about each families twisted knots on local, Virginia, and United States history than they realized, finding an ability to confide with one another.
But that wouldn’t last long, any way you sliced their imagined time together.
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#31 - Fort Greenville, ‘95-96 [MM4.10]