IolantheAlias -
In the episode - Tempus Anyone?- where Tempus kidnaps Lois and takes her to the other dimension, Mr. Olsen mentions that Perry is constantly telling Lois Lane stories (which I equate to cannon Perry telling Elvis stories) and Perry mentions that he sent a team of people to the Congo to look for her.
In my story, since Clark was hired shortly after Lois disappeared he is one of the team of people sent to look for her. After everyone else gave up (and buried her), he continued to look for her, because he had fallen in love with her. Sam is angry at Clark because he promised to never stop looking for her, but then seems to do so when he agrees to marry Lana. (Personally, I can't picture the proposal, can you?)
I hope this clarifies things.
