He had been there four years earlier and had noted it would be a good place for a fort and trading post. Now it was 1808 and he stood again on the bluff, seventy feet above the Missouri River. Yes, he thought, the fort should go here. He was William Clark and was carrying out the thoughts of Thomas Jefferson, who wanted to see a trading post or fort established along the Missouri River to protect the whites and make peace with the Indians.

AOWM – September 5