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Thomas Jefferson seeks permission for expedition
Thomas Jefferson seeks authorization from the government to go on the expedition and requests $2,500 for the journey. -
Louisiana Purchase announced
The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the public. -
St. Louis, Missouri
The starting point of the journey westward. This is where Lewis and Clark and about 50 men leave for their journey.They traveled by keel boat and pirogues. -
First Causality
The first person to die on the trip happened on this date. Sargent Charles Floyd died probably from a ruptured appendix. He was also the first soldier to die west of the Mississippi. -
New plants and animals
In all of the journals of the men, there were a total of 178 plants and 122 animals that had not been discovered by Americans before that time. They were not native to where the Americans in the US lived at that time. -
Conflict with the Sioux
When Lewis and Clark got to what is now Pierre, South Dakota, they met the Teton Sioux. This tribe was known for being very aggressive and powerful. They wanted one of the keel boats as a toll for being able to continue on the river. They just about got into a fight, but one of the chiefs was able to prevent it. -
Colder Weather
In his journal, Clark wrote that it was 45 degrees below 0. He said that it was colder than anything that he had experienced before. They stayed in Fort Mandan for the rest of the winter. -
Fort Mandan
The Mandan tribe did a buffalo dance to try to get some meat for the winter. In a few days a herd of buffalo was found and the tribe and the explorers went hunting. It was so cold that a lot of the people got frostbite and had to have parts amputated. -
Baby Birth at Fort Mandan
Sacagawea gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Jean Baptiste. Lewis sped up her delivery by giving her crushed rattlesnake rattles. -
Buffalo
There were so many buffalo in what is now Montana that the men were amazed. Herds were up to 10,000 head. There were so many animals that the men were able to eat a lot of meat each day. -
Shoshone Tribe
Lewis decided to try to get some horses from the Shoshone tribe. He brought Sacagawea with him to help translate and while they were talking, she discovered that the chief was actually her brother. She hadn't seen him since she was a child because she was kidnapped by another tribe of Indians. -
Help from a Native
When Lewis and Clark were crossing the Bitterroot mountains, they had a Native American from a local tribe to help them cross the mountains. Half way through the mountain, they got lost and were forced to eat one of their horses to avoid starvation. -
Sickness in Nez Perce
When Lewis and Clark got out of the Bitteroot mountians, the group was on the brink of starvation when they met the Nez Perce. They were fed by the native Americans and ended up getting sick from eating too much salmon. -
Into Idaho Water
A Nez Perce chief taught the explorers how to make canoes by hollowing out trees with fire. Once they made some new canoes, they got back into the Clearwater River. They were in what is now Oriofino, Idaho. -
Trading for Dogs
When Lewis and Clark's group gets hungry, they go to a Native Tribe, and they have salmon drying but they want meat. So they trade for dogs and eat them. -
Blackfeet Indians Killed
Lewis and his group of men came across some Blackfeet Indians. They spent the night with them, but in the morning, they caught the Indians trying to steal their supplies. They got into a fight and two of the Blackfeet were killed. -
Fort Clatsop
Fort Clatsop was finished being built right in time for winter. That winter, some of the temperatures got to be negative 45-50 degrees. They spent the entire winter and when they left to continue their journey, they gave the fort to a local tribe.
