As we have seen, white men were regarded with awe and curiosity by the natives of the regions which the explorers traversed in their long absence.

The first post-office in what is now the great city of St.Louis was not established until 1808; mails between the Atlantic seaboard and that "village" required six weeks to pass either way.
The two captains went to Washington early in the year following their arrival in St.Louis.There is extant a letter from Captain Lewis, dated at Washington, Feb.

11, 1807.

Congress was then in session, and, agreeably to the promises that had been held out to the explorers, the Secretary of War (General Henry Dearborn), secured from that body the passage of an act granting to each member of the expedition a considerable tract of land from the public domain.

To each private and non-commissioned officer was given three hundred acres; to Captain Clark, one thousand acres, and to Captain Lewis fifteen hundred acres.
In addition to this, the two officers were given double pay for their services during the time of their absence.