Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.

Biography

Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., grandson of explorer William Clark and namesake of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition, was raised in a family devoted to public service. He graduated from the United States Military Academy, fought for the Union as an officer during the Civil War, and returned to Louisville with a sense that the city could host a sporting tradition worthy of its frontier heritage.

In the years that followed, Clark founded the Louisville Jockey Club, designed Churchill Downs, and used the finest European standards to stage the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, laying the foundation for one of North America's longest continuous sporting events; he now rests at Cave Hill Cemetery near the city that inspired him.