Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–1806) was the first United States overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back, lead by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark.

Louisiana Purchase and a western expedition

The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 sparked interest in expansion to the west coast. A few weeks after the purchase, United States President Thomas Jefferson, an advocate of western expansion, had U.S. Congress appropriate $2500, "to send intelligent officers with ten or twelve men, to explore even to the western ocean". They were to study the Indian tribes, botany, geology, Western Terrain and wildlife in the region, as well as evaluate the potential interference of British and French-Canadian hunters and trappers who were already well established in the area. The expedition was not the first to cross North America, but was roughly a decade after the expedition of Alexander MacKenzie, the first European to cross North America by land north of Mexico, in 1793.

Related Topics:
Louisiana Purchase - United States President - Thomas Jefferson - U.S. Congress - Indian tribes - Botany - Geology - Wildlife - Alexander MacKenzie - 1793

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Jefferson selected Captain Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition, afterwards known as the Corps of Discovery; Lewis selected William Clark as his partner. Due to bureaucratic delays in the US Army, Clark officially only held the rank of Second Lieutenant at the time, but Lewis concealed this from the men and shared the leadership of the expedition, always referring to Clark as "Captain" (http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/v02.appendix.a.html).

Related Topics:
Captain Meriwether Lewis - William Clark - US Army - Second Lieutenant

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The group, initially consisting of 33 members, departed from Camp Dubois and began their historic journey on May 14, 1804. They soon met-up with Lewis in Saint Charles, Missouri and the approximately forty men followed the Missouri River westward. Soon they passed Le Rochette, the last white settlement on the Missouri River. On August 20, 1804 the Corps of Discovery suffered its first and only death when Sergeant Charles Floyd died, apparently from acute appendicitis. In the winter of 1804–1805 they wintered at Fort Mandan. The Shoshone/Hidatsa native woman Sacagawea and her husband, French Canadian Toussaint Charbonneau, joined the group there and guided them westward. Sacagawea and her Shoshone tribe came from further west. Not only did Lewis and Clark feel that she could aid them in translation, but they thought that when they got to that part of the country, she could take them to her native home.

Related Topics:
Camp Dubois - May 14 - Saint Charles, Missouri - Missouri River - August 20 - Charles Floyd - Appendicitis - Fort Mandan - Shoshone - Hidatsa - Native - Sacagawea - Toussaint Charbonneau

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The expedition followed the Missouri through what is now Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska, crossed the Rocky Mountains and descended by the Clearwater River, the Snake River, and the Columbia River, past Celilo Falls and through what is now Portland, Oregon until they reached the Pacific Ocean in the December of 1805. At this point, Lewis spotted Mt. Hood, a mountain known to be very close to the ocean.

Related Topics:
Kansas City, Missouri - Omaha, Nebraska - Rocky Mountains - Clearwater River - Snake River - Columbia River - Celilo Falls - Portland, Oregon - Pacific Ocean - Mt. Hood

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Clark had written in his journal, "Ocian in view! O! The Joy!". By that time the expedition faced its second bitter winter during the trip, so the group decided to vote on whether to camp on the north or south side of the Columbia River. Interestingly, York (Clark's manservant), a slave, and Sacagawea, an Indian and a woman, voted along with the men of the party. The party agreed to camp on the south side of the river (modern Astoria, Oregon), building Fort Clatsop as their winter quarters. While wintering at the fort, the men prepared for the trip home by boiling salt from the ocean, hunting elk and other wildlife. Mostly they just endured the persistent rain.

Related Topics:
Manservant - Astoria, Oregon - Fort Clatsop

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The explorers started their journey home on March 23, 1806 and arrived on September 23.

Related Topics:
March 23 - 1806 - September 23

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The Corps of Discovery returned with important information about the new United States territory and the people who lived in it, as well as its rivers and mountains, plants and animals. The expedition made a major contribution to mapping the North American continent.

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:See Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for more detail

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