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Lewis picked as commander of expedition. Writes to ask William Clark to join him and share command. Clark accepts
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Announcement of Louisiana Purchase.
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Friendly council with Yankton Sioux held
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Expedition discovers earthlodge villages of the Mandan and Hidatsas Indians. The captains decide to build Fort Mandan across the river from the main village
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Toussaint Charbonneau, a French Canadian fur trapper living with the Hidatsas, is hired as an interpreter. His wife, Sacagawea, a Shoshone who had been captured by the Hidatsas and sold to Charbonneau, is also considered helpful as the Shoshones are said to live at the headwaters of the Missouri
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Toussaint Charbonneau, a French Canadian fur trapper living with the Hidatsas, is hired as an interpreter. His wife, Sacagawea, a Shoshone who had been captured by the Hidatsas and sold to Charbonneau, is also considered helpful as the Shoshones are said to live at the headwaters of the Missouri
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Fort Mandan completed, expedition moves in for the winter.
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Sacagawea gives birth to baby boy, Jean Baptiste.
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The expedition comes to a fork in the river. Lewis and Clark believe the south fork is the Missouri, while all of the other men believe it is the north fork. Although they are not convinced that the south fork is the Missouri the captains recount; "they were ready to follow us any where we thought proper to direct."
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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. The expedition will have to portage over eighteen miles, taking nearly a month, to get past them.
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Lewis 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, Clark is made Indian agent for the West and brigadier general of the territory's militia.
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Lewis commits suicide at Grinders Stand, an inn south of Nashville.
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Sacagawea dies at Fort Manuel. Clark, who is St. Louis, assumes custody of Jean Baptiste, as well as her daughter, Lisette.
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William Clark dies at the home of his eldest son, Meriwether Lewis Clark. William Clark had married Julia "Judith" Hancock for whom he had named a river while on the expedition.