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William Clark is born in Caroline County, Virginia
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Merriwether Lewis is born in Locust Hill, Albemarle County, Virginia. The lewis home is very close to the Jefferson's Monticello home.
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William Lewis, Meriwether Lewis's father supports the fight for independence seeing it as the best way to end taxes, regulations and restrictions imposed by the British Governor of Virginia. Meriwether Lewis is still an infant. William Lewis also volunteers in a local militia and later joins the Continental Army.
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Jefferson authors the Declaration of Independence, and the delegates of the congress adopt it and sign it.
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William Lewis slips from his horse and falls into the swollen icy waters of the Rivanna River while returning to his unit after leave. He catches pneumonia and dies.
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Lewis's mother, Lucy Meriwether, marries her second husband, Captain John Marks, who also served in the Continental Army.After Americans win the Revolutionary War in 1783, Marks brings his wife and children to the Broad river valley of Northern Georgia where Lewis studies hunting trapping and natural science in the trackless forests. He learns to survive in the wilderness, studies plants and animals, and also learns to handle himself in dangerous situations.
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The Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolution. USA boundary encompasses lands east of the Mississippi River up to the Great Lakes in the north, and down to Georgia in the south.
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American ship captain, Robert Gray, discovers and names the Columbia River.
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Scotsman, Alexander Mackenzie, reaches the Pacific, crosses Canada by land, and becomes the first whte man to cross the Northern Rocky Mountains.
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Lewis volunteers for the Virginia Militia and helps squash the Whiskey Rebellion.
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Lewis joins the US Army and is assigned to the second Legion and the command of General anthony Wayne at Geenville , Ohio. He is eventually transfered to Clark's Chosen Rifle Company.
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Clark retires from the US Army at age 26 due to poor health, and returns to Mulberry Hill Plantation near Louisville.
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France gains the Louisiana Territory from Spain because of the
Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. -
Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third dpresident of the United States; he invites Lewis to serve as his personal secretary.
President Jefferson does not hire Lewis just for secretarial duties He believes that Lewis is the man to lead the expedition to the west successfully. -
Lewis reports to Washington D.C. and bigins working as President Thomas Jefferson's secretary. Lewis ably carries out assignments and earns the trust of President Jefferson.
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Jefferson delivers a secret message to congress to approve money for an exploration of the territory west of the Mississippi River, as far as the Pacific Ocean. The secrecy is important because the lands intended to be crossed is foreign territory and the news of the planned expedition will lead to diplomatic and military conflict.
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Congress approves Jefferson's proposal for an exploration of territories west of the Mississippi River, as far as the Pacific Ocean, and agrees to spend $2,500 for supplies.
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Napoleon sells the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15,000,000- about 3 cents an acre. He wants to keep Great Britain, France's great rival, from siezing the French claim in the New World.
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Lewis asks Clark to go on the Expedition with him, as Clark is a skilled map maker and boatsman. Clark is also experienced in dealing with tribes in the Northwest, and is a frontier doctor to boot.
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President Jefferson ask Lewis and Clark officially to lead an exploration to the west in search of the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean.
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Lewis reaches Pittsburgh, and writes a letter to inform Jefferson of his progress after inspecting a 55 foot keelboat designed by him. After finding that the the keelboat is not water ready , he writes to Clark and asks him to recruit worthy hunters, translators, and guides for the expedition.
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Clark recieves Leiws' letter, and imediately agrees to meet Lewis that summer at the Falls of the Ohio.
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Clark receives Lewis's letter requesting him to jointhe expedition as a co-commander with caption's commission and equal pay aas Lewis
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Lewis and his men load supplies on to the boat, and set off down the Ohio River, and head to the Mississippi River with a smaller pirogue (keelboat) trailing behind.
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The boats carrying Lewis and his men reach the Falls of the Ohio, where Clark is waiting with several volunteers. They check supplies, review volunteers, and reject more that 100 men, and eventually settle on just nine men.
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Lewis, with Clark, sets off in their three boats downriver, along with Clark's slave, York.
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The Expedition stops for a few days at Fort Massac, where Lewis, with Clark, hires a hunter and a scout named George Drouillard. He serves as an intepereter, as he knows Indian sign language, French, and English.
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Lewis and Clark reach St. Louis, and build their winter camp, Camp Wood,(also known as Camp Dubois) because the Spanish Governer, Carlos Delassus, refuses to allow them to pass to the west bank of the Mississippi River, as per the instructions from the Spanish Government. The Corps wait here until spring for a formal ceremony, which officially transfers Louisiana to the United States.
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Clark sets off across the Mississippi River, and into the Missouri River, to St, Charles, to meet Lewis and his party, who had ridden there ahead. The captains hire Pierre Crucaztte and Francois Labiche to serve as translators and guides along the route.
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The Expedition leaves St. Charles with three boats pointing into the powerful current of the Missouri River. The Corps of Discovery travels over three miles upstream with the men straining at the oars.
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The Expedition encounters the first American Indians, the Oto. Lewis invites Oto Chiefs to council, raises the American Flag, parades his men, and exchange gifts and tokens on behalf of the US Government. Through the interpretors, Lewis tells the Oto that they are now ruled by the US, and should live in peace with all white men. He also threatens dire consequences if they do not cooperate. Lewis is certain that he has made an ally for the United States.
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Lewis and Clark court martial Moses Reed, and drum him out of the Expedition, as he is guilty of deserting the camp with his rifle. They demote him to one of the pirogues, and order him to stay behind, as the Expedition builds its winter camp.
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Segeant Floyd suffers a sudden, mysterious, and violent illness (probably a ruptured appendix). Neither Lewis nor Clark have any medicine to heal Floyd, who dies two days later. They bury him and elect Patrick Gass to replace him as a sergeant and squad leader. Floyd is the first United States soldier to die west of the Mississippi River.
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The Yankton, like most American Indian tribes, do not elect permanent leaders. Lewis and Clark name five Yankton Official Chiefs, thus making it easy for the United States to negotiate with the different tribes.
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The Corps of Discovery encounter the unfriendly Teton Sioux, who refuse to allow them to pass.Lewis eases the tense situation with a further gift of tobacco and a Sioux Leader, Black Buffalo, talks to his people into letting the Expedition pass. The Expedition see the Prairie Dogs for the first time.
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Lewis and the Corps build their winter camp, Fort Mandan, near the Indian Villages of Mandan and Hidatsa, along the upper Missouri River.
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Lewis and Clark hire a French Canadian interpretor named Tousssaint Charbonneau, and his Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, to join the Corps of Discovery. Sacagawea helps Lewis buy horses from the Shoshone to use in crossing the Rocky Mountains.
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Napoleon Bonaparte proclaims himself as Emperor of the French.
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Lewis puts his doctoring tlents to use and helps Sacagawea deliver her son, Jean- Baptiste, with the help of the rattle of the rattlesnake he has with him. He breaks the rattle, put in some water, and gives it to Sacagawea to drink. He writes in his journal that within ten minutes, she delivers her baby. Her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, names his new son as Jean-Baptiste. Clark gives the youngest member of the Corps a nickname of his own, Pomp.
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The Corps leave Camp Mandan and continue up the Missouri River. Lewis sends his specimens, carefully packed in a keelboat, with some crew, back downstream to St. Louis. Although Jefferson had asked Lewis to send his journals back, he decides not to, as he does not want to lose the single most valuable item he carries, should anything happen to Corporal Warfington's crew and the keelboat.
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The Corps encounter grizzly bears after passing the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Although Lewis and Clark think that they are not formidable or dangerous to skillful riflemen, they are proven wrong. The large animals are very hard to kill. The Corps kill their first grizzly bear with Clark, and Lewis writes that the party is avoiding grizzlies whenever possible.
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Lewis and the Corps sight the distant Rocky Mountains at last. This is the first sighting of the mountains by White Americans. Lewis observes that the river runs faster and shallower, and that the plains are giving way to gently rolling hills and steep bluffs.
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Watching for signs of the great waterfall, desribed by the Hidatsa Tribe, Lewis leads the Corps into a puzzling fork at the Marias River.
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Lewis walks ahead of the boats, and discovers the Great Falls of the Missouri River.He realizes that the river narrows further with steep cliffs replacing the sloping banks. Lewis names these sheer stone walls as The Gates of the Mountains.
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The falls are a major obstacle to the progress of the Corps, so Lewis decides to portage (carry boats) around them. Lewis also decides to leave two pirogues behind, and bury the equipment not neccesary for retrieval on the way back home. The Corps portage for a whole month across the difficult landscape. Lewis writes that he has serious doubts about whether they will make it through the Rockies, reach the Pacific, and then be able to reach Mandan Village before winter sets in.
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Lewis and the Corps reach the spot where Sacagawea was captured as a teenager, and notices three forks, that feed the Missouri River.Lewis and Clark name these river forks as Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin, after the President, Secretary of State, and Treasury Secretary respectively.
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Lewis leads some of the Corps men up the Jefferson River, expecting to make a short portage over the Continental Divide and discovers the source of the Missouri River.
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Lewis and Clark reach the Continental Divide, and the first shipment of specimens Lewis shipped earlier reaches Washington D.C.
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Lewis and Clark lead the Corps across the worst strech of the entire expedition with 30 horses. Although they expect a five day march to the Columbia River, it takes twice as long to cross the tortuous trench.
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Lewis and the Corps cross the Bitterroot Mountains along the Lolo trail and descend down the west side of the Bitteroot Mountains.
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Lewis and Clark lead the Corps to the Clear Water River, on the other side of the Bitterroot Mountins. Lewis decides to use boats for the rest of the trip.
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Lewis and Clark, with their Corps, reach the Columbia River, and survive the treacherous streches of the river with the swirling rapids, much to the local Indians' surprise. Lewis spots obvious signs left by other white men, who have come before them, from the west coast.The Native Americans there wore clothing got from sailors, and used English swear words.
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Lewis and Clark paddle into a huge bay, where the Columbia River enters the Pacific Ocean.
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The Corps of Discovery arrive at the Pacific Ocean about a week after Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean. Clark surprisingly and accurately calculates that they have travelled 4,118 miles in all.
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Lewis takes votes among the Corps to decide on the location of the winter camp.
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Lewis leads the Corps in the construction of a winter camp called Fort Clatsop, near present day Astoria, Oregon. He names the fort after the Clatsop Tribe. Although the men were prepared to return home by sea, unfortunately, no ships from any country sails into the mouth of the Columbia River that winter.
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Lewis & the Corps complete the construction of Fort Clatsop, & move in for the winter. The Expedition, that evening, prepares a meal of boiled elk, roots, & fish. The available meat sustains them only until spring. Rain & humidity make their life miserable, as they cannot keep their campfires burning, or their clothes dry. While at camp they repair equipment, boil seawater for salt, hunt food,& make elk skin moccasins for the return trip. Clark draws detailed maps of their journey westward.
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Lewis posts a sign that lists the names of the members of the Expedition, and announces that the US has reached the Pacific Coast by way of the Rockies, and has claimed the Pacific Northwest.
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Lewis leads his men from Weippe Prairie Camp, to cross the snowbound, slippery trails on high mountain passes, with 66 horses carrying their supplies.
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Lewis and Clark order their Expedition to retreat. This is the first and the last retreat of the entire Expedition. They wait at Hungry Creek and send a detatchment back to Nez Perce to find guides.
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Lewis leads the Corps across successfully this time, as the melting snowbanks from Hungry Creek has made a passage to Travelers Rest in the Bitterroot Valley, where the Expedition halts for two days.
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Lewis and Clark decide to divide the Expedition at Travelers Rest to recross the Continental Divide. Lewis leads a party of nine men, without Nez Perce's guides. Leaving a squad of six men, to wait for Sergeant Ordway at Great Falls, he continues on with Drouillard, Joseph Field, and Reubin Field.
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Spotting a small part of eight Blackfeet near the Two Medicine River, Lewis decides to advance and meet them, instead of fleeing away from them.
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A fight ensues between Lewis' Corps and the Blackfeet tribe, during which, Lewis kills two of the Blackfeet, and pushes downriver to meet Clark.
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Lewis escapes narrowly from being killed by an Indian in a skirmish. However, he is shot in the rump by one of his men in a hunting accident. A Corps member mistakes him for an elk and shoots him. Fortunately, the wound is not life threatining, just embarassing.
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Lewis reunites with Clark at the mouth of the Yellowstone River, and learns that Sergeant Pryor's party lost their horses to Crow Tribe. Lewis is disappointed as he wanted to trade the horses at the Mandan Villages in exchange for presents for the Sioux. His plan of inviting the Sioux Chiefs to a council with President Jefferson in Washington D.C., ends due to the theft of the horses.
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Lewis and Clark lead the Corps, and arrive at the Mandan and Hidatsa Villages. Lewis releases John Colter from the Corps as he wants to return up the Missouri River with two fur- trappers. Toussaint Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and young Pomp remain at Mandan Villages. Lewis decides to take Sheheke (Big White), a Mandan Chief, to visit Jefferson in Washington D.C.
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Lewis and Clark ride up to the dock of St. Louis, a little over 28 months after casting off from Camp Wood. Lewis writes a letter to Jefferson after he takes room in the home of Pierre Chouteau, a wealthy fur- trader. He tells Jefferson that the Northwest Passage does not exist, and the trails followed by him and Clark will never serve as a transcontinental shipping route.
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William Clark makes the last entry in the captains' official journals,.... "A fine morning we commenced wrighting &c."
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Lewis reaches Washington D.C. where he is proclaimed a hero for his daring exploits. President and Congress award a grant of 1600 acres of land to Lewis and Clark. Privates and Sergeants receive double pay and 300 acres of land.
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Jefferson appoints Lewis as the new Governor of the Louisana Territory and Congress approves the appointement. Clark serves as Superintendent for Indian affairs and Brigadier General of Louisiana militia.
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Pryor, Pierre Chouteau, and Big White set out up the Missouri River with 14 soldiers and 22 traders to return Big White, the
Mandan Chief to his home after Big White's meeting with President Jefferson in Washington D.C. -
Fearing that Patrick Gass, one of the Sergeants in the Westward Expedition would publish his journal first, Lewis engages a Philidalphea publisher, John Conrad, to bring out Lewis' journal. He asks Dr. Benjamin Barten, a famous naturalist and philosopher to edit his journal. Lewis himself writes the prospectus, or advertisement for his journal.
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Inventor Rober Fulton launches his steamboat, the Clermont. Clermont is the first commercially successful steamboat both designed and built by Robert Fulton.
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William Clark marries Julia Hancock and Meriwether Lewis attends their wedding.
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Lewis arrives to his post in St.Louis exactly one year after Congress had approved his appointment as Governor of the Louisiana Territory.
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Lewis and several of his acquaintances submit a petition to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and request a dispensation to establish a lodge in St. Louis
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Lewis is nominated and recommended to serve as the first Master of Lodge No. 111 in St. Louis, Missouri
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Lewis along with fur merchants in St.Louis starts Missouri Fur
Company. Lewis participates as a secret partner because he wants to avoid the scandal that would arise if he profits from his actions as the Governor of Louisiana Territory.The company's first task is to return Big White to Mandan. -
Lewis draws up a contract on behalf of US with the Missouri Fur Company to return Big White to Mandan and also to trap fur. The government promises to pay them 7000 dollars for this mission.
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Lewis appoints Pierre Chouteau to lead the expedtion as he feels confident in his ability and believes that he will sucessfully take Big White to Mandan. Feeling certain that the US government would honor his debts, Lewis signs notes to pay for additional supplies of gifts and gunpowder.
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William Eustis, the Secretary of War under President Madison's administration, communicates to Lewis that the war department would not cover additional drafts because the President Jefferson's government was liable for only 7000 dollars as stated in the contract with the Missouri Fur Company.
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Facing financial ruin, Lewis sets out to Washington DC with his servant John Pernier. Lewis attempts to commit suicide on the boat, but, Russell the commander of Fort Pickering takes Lewis off the boat and keeps a close watch on him.
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Lewis and Pernier set out on Natchez trace which crosses the forests and mountains of Tennessee. As two of their horses strayed, Neely stays behind to find them and says that he would catch up with Lewis at the next inn.
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Lewiis stops for the night at a lonely inn called Grinder's
Stand. Lewis spends several hours pacing the room muttering to himself. Fearing that Lewis is a deranged man, Mrs.Grinder locks herself in her own cabin. -
In the middle of the night Mrs.Grinder hears two shots from visitors cabin. The wounded Lewis crawls to her cabin begging for water. Mrs Grinder refuses to open the door as she fears that Lewis is a deranged man.Lewis has gun shot wounds in his chest and the head. Lewis crawls back to his cabin. Periner finds Lewis slashing himself with a razor at dawn. 35 year old Captain Meriwether Lewis dies just after sunrise. Historrians still debate whether it was suicide or murder.
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James Neely writes to Jefferson and informs him of Lewis' death one week after the suicide.
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Clark reads about Lewis' death in a Kentucky Newspapar on his way to Washington D.C. over land. Clark was to meet Lewis at Washingtion D.C. to protest the President Madison's government decision to cut off grants and funds to the Missouri Fur Company, owned by Lewis and Clark.
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Congress organizes the Missouri Territory and appoints Clark as Missouri's first Territorial Governor.
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Bradford and Inskeep Firm publishes the History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark.
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In Africa, Libiera is founded as a colony for freed slaves.
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The German composer, Ludwig von Beethoven, completes composing his Ninth Symphony.
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Clark, at the age of 68, dies in St.Louis, Missouri.
