-
Louisiana Purchase
Napoleon Bonaparte offered Thomas Jefferson the louisiana territory, for 15 million dollars. By completing this purchase, Jefferson had to put aside his principles because the allowance for this type of transaction was not expressly listed in the Constitution. Waiting for a Constitutional amendment might cause the deal to fall through. Therefore, Jefferson decided to go through with the purchase. -
Period: to
Lewis and Clark Expedition
-
Beggining
William Clark and nearly 4 dozen other men met up with Meriwether Lewis. The Lewis and Clark expedition began making its way up the Missouri aboard a keelboat and two smaller pirogues -
Forst Indians
At sunset some Oto and Missouri Indians arrived at the Lewis and Clark's Expedition's camp. The first Indian encounter went well, they both exchanged gifts. But Lewis and Clark realized it would be a completely different thing when they met the Sioux. Thomas Jefferson had speciffcally mentioned the need to make a friendly impression on this powerful tribe. -
Dead
Sergeant Charles Floyd became the first U.S. soldier to die west of the Mississippi River, probably from acute appendictis. He was the only member to die along the journey. -
Fort Mandan
The expedition members kept busy during the Fort Mandan winter, repairing equipment, trading with Indians, and hunting for buffalo. Here. they hired Toussaint Charbonneau, a French- Canadian fur trapper living among the Hidatsa. -
Sacagawea
Sacagawea was a Shoshone Native American girl. Sacagawea was kidnapped in 1800, which would have made her about 13 years old, by the Hidatsa tribe. Sacagawea was either purchased by a French-Canadian fur trader named Toussaint Charbonneau, and became his wife. Sacagawea helped the Corps of Discovery with local navigation, horse trading, translating, keeping peace with other tribes, finding edible food, and was the one who rescued Clark's journals, along with other valuable items. -
Grizzly Bears
Lewis and several of his men spotted a pair of grizzly bears. They wounded one of the bears, which managed to ecscape. But the other ran at Lewis, chasing him some 80 yards before he and a colleague were able to reload and kill the bear. -
Wind
The expedition almost lost one of its two pirogues when a sudden gust of wind caught the sails and helled the vessel over on its side. Only quick action by Sacagawea saved precious journals and supplies. -
Fork in the river
The expedition came upon a fork in the river. Lewis and Clark believed that the Southern branch was the Missouri. The rest of the men disagreed, convinced that the northern branch was the right choice. Lewis decided to take 3 men with him up the southern branch. Only when Lewis reached the great falls would he know for sure he was on the Missouri. -
Great Falls
Lewis became the first white men to see the great falls. There were 5 sperate falls, and they went on for a 12 mile stretch. It was the hardest physical task of the trip so far. More than a month would pass before the expedition was around the Great Falls and onto the next stretch of navigable water. -
Shoshone
Lewis spotted an Indian on horseback. It was a Shoshone, the first indian they had seen since Fort Mandan. The shoshone led the expedition to his cheif, who in a stroke of luck turned out to be Sacagawea's brother. -
The Return
The corps of Discovery entered the Mississippi River and at noon disembarked at St. Louis- two years, four months and ten days after they started. Gathered along the shore, the thousand people of St. Louis greeted the returned Corps.
