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The lousiniana PurchaseThe expedition took place shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and consisted of a select group of U.S. Army volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. The duration of their perilous journey lasted from May 1804 to September 1806.
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Over the duration of the trip, from May 14, 1804, to Sept. 23, 1806, from St. Louis, Mo., to the Pacific Ocean and back, the Corps of Discovery, as the expedition company was called, traveled nearly 8,000 mi.The entourage, numbering about four dozen men, covered 10 to 20 mi a day
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U.S. Navy Officer Stephen Decatur leads an attack to destroy the captured American frigate Philadelphia in Tripoli Bay. British Lord Nelson describes as "the most daring act of the age."
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Confrontation with Teton Sioux, who demand one of the expedition's boats as a toll to travel farther upriver. Chief Black Buffalo resolves situation before any fighting. Expedition stays with tribe for 3 more days.
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The Expedition arrives at the earth-lodge villages of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes, near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. With 4,500 inhabitants, the villages have a greater population than St. Louis.
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When the spring of 1805 brought high water and favorable weather, the Lewis and Clark Expedition set out on the next leg of its journey. They traveled up the Missouri to present-day Three Forks, Montana, wisely choosing to follow the western-most tributary, the Jefferson River.
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About the expiditionThe Lewis and Clark expedition—"the Corps of Discovery" began making its way up the Missouri aboard a 55-foot-long keelboat and two smaller pirogues. As they traveled, Clark spent most of his time on the keelboat, charting the course and making maps, while Lewis was often ashore, studying the rock formations, soil, animals, and plants along the way.
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Lewis and another hunter kill a large grizzly bear, which had never before been described for science
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On July 4, 1805, the party finished the portage and, to celebrate Independence Day, consumed the last of their 120 gallons of alcohol and danced into the night.
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With journals in hand, Lewis, Clark, and the other members of the Expedition returned to St. Louis by September 1806 to report their findings to Jefferson. Along the way, they continued to trade what few goods they still had with the Indians.
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Another primary objective involved diplomacy with Native Americans. The expedition held councils with Indians, in which the corps had military parades, handed out peace medals, flags, and gifts, delivered speeches, promised trade, and requested intertribal peace. There also was something of a magic show (magnets, compasses, and Lewis’s air gun) and an invitation for Indian representatives to travel to Washington.
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They finally arrived at the Pacific Ocean in mid-November, with Clark recording in his journal, “Ocian in view! O! the joy.” Fierce storms delayed their progress for nearly a month. The members conducted a democratic vote on where to spend the winter, with even York and Sacagawea casting votes.
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The Expedition leaves Fort Clatsop and begins its homeward journey. They give the Fort to Coboway, a Clatsop chief.
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Scouting ahead of the rest of the expedition, Lewis comes across the Great Falls of the Missouri. He also discovers four more waterfalls farther upstream.
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Finding the pacificOne of the reasons the Lewis and Clark expedition succeeded in there trip is because the northwestern portion of North America was reaching the Pacific Ocean. Leaders meticulously consulted the best cartographic sources.
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MemorialLewis and Clark are treated as national heroes. They return to Washington, D.C. The men receive double pay and 320 acres of land as reward, the captains get 1,600 acres. Lewis is named governor of the Louisiana Territory,
