But it happened that a Western Pennsylvanian, Albert Gallatin, was Secretary of the Treasury and gets the credit for funding the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He also approved the $12 million Jefferson requested for the Louisiana Purchase.

In honor of this distinguished western Pennsylvanian, we include a brief history of his life and works here. His estate, called Friendship Hill, is located about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh and is a National Historical Site, open year round, 9 - 5.

Albert Gallatin was born in 1761 into a wealthy and noble family in Geneva, Switzerland. Orphaned as a young boy, he was raised by a family friend, Catherine Pictet, an educated and cultured woman who counted Voltaire among her friends. Albert studied at the Academy of Geneva, and was highly influenced by the philosophy of Rousseau. As a well educated, wealthy young man with high social connections, he could have done anything, pursued any career. His grandmother wanted to buy him a commission in the Hessian army -- the mercenaries who fought for George III -- and he cried out, "I will not fight for any tyrant!" He wanted to farm the land. He ran away to land and freedom - to America.

He landed in Boston in 1780, at the age of 19. 2 years later he was in western Pennsylvania where he acquired 60,000 acres of land on the southern side of the Ohio. He selected the site of his new home, Friendship Hill, and began to farm. He established the town of New Geneva, on the Monongahela River, which would provide water transportation for goods directly down to Pittsburgh. He built both a glass factory and a munitions factory in the town. His dream was that this would be a place for skilled Swiss workmen to make their homes in the new world.

He was soon drawn into politics, first on the state level, and then to the House of Representatives. His insights into the financial problems of the nation caught the attention of Thomas Jefferson who named his Secretary of the Treasury in 1801.

At that time the new country had a national debt of $80 million. Gallatin had a plan to reduce this debt through the cutting of government spending, particularly to the military, and to bring in capital by selling off public lands, and through import taxes. The first year in office he reduced the debt by $2 million. Even when Jefferson asked for $12 for the Louisiana Purchase, he continued his plan and by the time he left office the national debt was down to $45 million. Eighteen years later, in 1833, the national debt had been reduced to zero.

Gallatin was an enthusiastic supporter of the Lewis and Clark expedition. He felt that the information they would bring back would make these new lands more saleable, thus helping to bring down the debt even farther.

He also assisted in the planning of the expedition.

Gallatin had a large map collection, and had a special map drawn up for Lewis. It showed North America from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. It included what was known about the Missouri River up to the Mandan villages in the Great Bend in the river. The three certain points on the map were the latitude and longitude of the mouth of the Columbia, of St. Louis, and of the Mandan villages.

As Jefferson made his plans for the Lewis & Clark expedition, Gallatin asked an unusual question. He asked Jefferson a "what if" question: "what if the expedition does not find a Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean?" He wanted good publicity even if it failed in this mission, so he suggested calling the trip an expedition for scientific discovery.

Gallatin left office in 1814, and was appointed as one of the ministers who negotiated the treaty of Ghent. He also served as Minister to both France and England. 1817 found him in New York City where he became president of National Bank of New York City and founded New York University. He started the American Ethnological Society and researched Indian languages. He died in New York at the age of 88.