PRINTER'S NO. 1378
No. 202 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY ARMSTRONG, BALDWIN, BOYD, CREIGHTON, HICKERNELL,
STURLA AND TRUE, APRIL 15, 2003
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
APRIL 15, 2003
A RESOLUTION
1 Honoring the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
2 WHEREAS, President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis to
3 Lancaster to study with Andrew Ellicott, a renowned astronomer
4 and surveyor who lived on North Prince Street in a house which
5 still stands; and
6 WHEREAS, Lewis spent three weeks there to learn skills vital
7 for the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific
8 Ocean; and
9 WHEREAS, Ellicott was America's foremost surveyor along with
10 being an accomplished astronomer and mathematician. Meriwether
11 Lewis visited Ellicott at his Lancaster home in April 1803; and
12 WHEREAS, Ellicott had already conducted several large surveys
13 that established state and territorial boundaries, including the
14 boundary between the United States and Spanish possessions in
15 Florida and the bounds of the District of Columbia; and
16 WHEREAS, In 1803 Ellicott published "The Journal of Andrew
17 Ellicott" which mapped the mouth of the Mississippi River and
1 fixed the position of the mouth of the Missouri River quite
2 accurately; and
3 WHEREAS, Those maps were used in the map of North American
4 that Nicholas King made specifically for the Lewis and Clark
5 Expedition; and
6 WHEREAS, Ellicott was a strong supporter for purchasing
7 Louisiana; and
8 WHEREAS, Ellicott taught Lewis how to use a sextant, octant,
9 chronometer and other surveying equipment during a nearly three-
10 week visit; and
11 WHEREAS, Using his own instruments, Thomas Jefferson
12 personally taught Lewis the basic principles of determining
13 latitude by observing altitudes of the sun or a star with an
14 octant and then he sent Lewis away for further study of
15 astronomical formulas with Robert Patterson, professor of
16 mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania; and
17 WHEREAS, The diligent efforts of the founders of the Historic
18 Preservation Trust of Lancaster County saved the historic
19 Sehner-Ellicott-von Hess House from demolition; and
20 WHEREAS, The building, where Lewis trained with Andrew
21 Ellicott on navigational skills vital to the success of the
22 Lewis and Clark Expedition now serves as the headquarters of the
23 trust; therefore be it
24 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the
25 bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
26 being held April 19, 2003, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Penn
27 Square in the City and County of Lancaster.
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