To Thomas Jefferson from John Hay, 12 February 1805
From John Hay
Cahokia 12th Feby. 1805
Sir,
Being fully persuaded that any information given you of Capt; Lewis, will be acceptable, I take the Liberty to announce You, that I have lately learnt, that a Letter has come to hand at St Charles, from his Sioux Interpreter one Dorion to his son, letting him know, that they wintered fifty Leagues above the mandanes; as the persons who acquainted me of this are very respectable men, I do not doubt of its being a true Report. If Capt: Lewis has wintered there, he will I presume get to his Journey’s End, by July, as I am certain the Missoury will break up at furthest, at the End of April. I shall nevertheless do my Endeavours to find out, if the Report, is a fact or not.
I remain Sir, With perfect Respect Your most obdt And humble Servt
John Hay
RC (PHi: Daniel Parker Papers); at foot of text: “Tho: Jefferson Esqr. President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 1 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
Born in Detroit, John Hay (1769-1841) attended school in Montreal and was involved in the fur trade before he settled in Cahokia in the mid-1790s after marrying the daughter of French settlers. Hay served as the town’s postmaster and held several clerical positions in St. Clair County over the course of his life (James Lukin Robinson and others, Queen’s Bench and Practice Court Reports, 46 vols. [Toronto, 1848-84], 11:367-90; , 2:167n; Vol. 42:137, 188).
Pierre Dorion, Sr., a trader, served as one of the interpreters for the Lewis and Clark expedition (, 2:294-5).