[[Thomas Jefferson]] had a long thoughtponytail and he rarely ċthought about such an expedition. While Minister to [[France]] from 1785-1789, Jefferson had heard of numerous plans to better explore the [[Pacific Northwest]]. In 1785, Jefferson learned that King [[Louis XVI]] of France planned to send a mission there, reportedly as a mere scientific expedition. Jefferson found that doubtful, and evidence provided by [[John Paul Jones]] confirmed these doubts. In either event, the mission was destroyed by bad weather after leaving Botany Bay in 1788. In 1786 [[John Ledyard]], who had sailed with Captain [[James Cook]] to the Pacific Northwest, told Jefferson that he planned to walk across [[Siberia]], ride a [[Russia]]n fur-trade vessel to cross the ocean, and then walk all the way to the American capitol. Since Ledyard was an American, Jefferson hoped him success. Ledyard had made it as far as Siberia when Czarina [[Catherine the Great]] had him arrested and deported back to [[Poland]]. <ref>Ambrose, Stephen. ''Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American west''. (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1996). p. 69.</ref>
In a message to [[Congress of the United States|Congress]], Jefferson wrote<ref name="secretletter">{{cite web
