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President Thomas Jefferson asked Congress to finance an expedtion to explore the western part of North America. Congress quickly approved the request.
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U.S. representatives signed a treaty with Grance to purchase the Lousiana Territory
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Captain Meriwether Lewis, Jefferson's choice to lead the expedtion, asked William Clark to serve as co-leader
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Lewis launched the expedition boat down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Lewia and Clark met in Clarksville, Indiana, where Clark had recuited men for the expedition
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The expedition estabilished winter quarters at Camp Dubois, near St. Louis, Missouri
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The expedition set out from Camp Dubois and headed up the Missouri River
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Sergeant Charles Floyd became the expedition's only member to die on the journey.
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The group began to build Fort Mandan in present-day North Dakota for its winter camp
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Lewis and Clark the French-Canadian fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau and his Shoshone Indian wife Sacagawea to interpret Indian languages
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The journey resumed up the Missouri River.
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The group reached the Great Falls of the Missouri River and soon began an 18-mile (29-kilometer) overland trip around the waterfalls
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The expedition entered the Lolo Trainl of the Bitterroot Range in the Rocky Mountains. The party spent 11 days crossing the mountains under severe weather
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Members of the expedition reached the Pacific coast
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The expedition began to build Fort Clatsop in presetn-day Oregon for its winter quarters
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The homeward journey started
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The expedition split into two groups to find a shortcut home and to explore more of the Louisiana Territory
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Lewis's group killed two Blackfeet Indians who tried to stal guns and horses in what was the only bloodshed on the entire trip.
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The two groups of explorers reunited on the Missouri River, near the mouth of the Yellowstone River
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The expedition arrived back in St. Louis