Lewis And Clark Expedition

Lewis and Clark went on their journey to explore the western region of what is now known as

They slowly made their way up river with their crew spread out on three boats at the start of this expedition. On slow days they covered four miles and on a good day they covered up to twenty miles. On an average it was about ten miles covered a day. The two captains divided their duties. Clark stayed on the keelboat and managed the men, compass readings, and the distance traveled. Lewis went ashore with his dog almost every day to gather plants, take soil samples, and taking note of the good sites for future settlements. By June 26th, they had traveled forty-three days and four hundred miles. By July 21st, they had traveled six hundred forty miles. One of the first Indian tribes they encountered was the Oto Indian tribe. Instructions from President Jefferson were that they would make friends with the Indians. Lewis and Clark were very careful in advising them that their land now belonged to the United States. After leaving the Oto Indians, the

Never have the men seen Lewis this mad and they never seen them whip an Indian. The soldiers had threatened the Old man with the rifles and they also had gave him a few hit with a switch. The Chinooks show Lewis and Clark their flaws. They had such a bad reputation. They wasn’t just known as thieves they was known as one of the best thieves. They was so good that the men could turn their back for one second and something would be missing. The Indians tended to upset Lewis. They had stolen his dog (Seaman) and that was the last straw for Lewis patience with these Indians. Lewis ordered three men to go out and follow them and if they become any type of difficult to fire at

Many people in America know of the historical expedition of Lewis and Clark, but only a few know of the expedition to California led by Jedediah Smith. This expedition took place after Thomas Jefferson signed the papers to acquire a huge region in the west through the Louisiana Purchase. After this expansion many people were eager to explore the west and among those was Jedediah Smith. From his childhood, Smith dreamed one day of exploring the unknown west part of the United States. He once said, "I wanted to be the first to view a country on which the eyes of a white man had never gazed and to follow the course of rivers that run through a new land." In 1824, Jedediah Smith began formulating his famous California expedition that

The Lewis and Clark expedition was amongst one of the first major American expeditions. This expedition helped the United States advance in science, land as well as gaining many valuable resources. The Lewis and Clark expedition is also an amazing American story. Lewis and Clark went through extraordinary situations to expedite Americas growth and science. They accomplished this expedition with strenuous encounters with the Native Americans.The importance of the Lewis and Clark expedition is derived by the challenges they faced, the encounters they had with Western Indians, and the knowledge gained about the Louisiana territory.

The members of the expedition were always on the lookout for Indians and hoping they would come in peace. They were armed in case they weren't. For security, Lewis and Clark made camp on river isla nds whenever possible and kept guards there at night. By the end of July they had traveled more than 600 miles up the river and still hadn't met an Indian.

The Lewis and Clark expedition was a truth that was to become the crowning accomplishment in the lifetime of the brilliant thinker, inventor, and founding father, Thomas Jefferson . It has become a profounding turning point throughout America’s history. Investigating the recently obtained Louisiana Territory, which nearly doubled the size of the country, arranged Jefferson the opportunity to widen the boundaries of the United States to include both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The threat of the unknown lay ahead for Lewis and Clark’s team. The explorers had no idea what they would e be confronted with on their journey, but still they advanced into the unknown area that could officially be called part of America. Thanks to the addition of Lewis, Clark, their essential guide Sacajawea, and the many men that traveled with them America was able to expose land as well as providing important information about the topography, the biological studies, the ecology, and the studies of the American Indian as they discovered the mysteries of the Louisiana Purchase. Although it was a treacherous and costly journey, the Lewis and Clark expedition was the most important exploration in American history.

On May 14, 1804 in the eastern city of Saint Louis, William Clark and Merry-weather Lewis set of on the westward adventure that would change America as we know it today. Their journey began on the Mississippi River, those rapids would propel Lewis and Clark into the "Corps of Discovery". Across the vast land that these men would soon travel lived the many native-american tribes. The Native people hunted freely across their western lands, lived their life as one with the ground they so carefully treaded on. Soon, the great American adventurers and the native people would meet, but one brought with them the foreshadowing of a new era. An era when American life would be greatly improved with new natural resources and plentiful free land, but only at the cost of ruining the native american people of their way of life. The Lewis and Clark Expedition expanded the knowledge and lifestyle of America but began the elimination of the original American natives way of life and culture.

Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark put their lives on the line only to return with information regarding the Pacific Northwest of the United States territory. Their reasons behind this journey, being to expand the United States to the West, involved the entire nation but debatably, their accomplishments and the reaction of others became a major part of today’s history.

Exploration has always been a central theme in the development of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, made the government more eager to expand west. The newly acquired lands were in need of exploration. A team needed to be established to survey and document the new territory. The Lewis and Clark expedition would answer the unknown questions of the west. The expedition would not have been successful without the leadership, determination, discipline of the Corps of Discovery, and the cooperation of the Native Americans. President Jefferson wanted the leader to have the same passion and intensity toward the discovery of the west as he possessed. Jefferson hand-

Jefferson’s 3 goals were to find a water route to the northwest, he wanted to claim that land for the Americans, and he wanted to know what the land was like. In my opinion, Lewis & Clark did not achieve all Jefferson’s goals. The text said “First, and most importantly, he wanted Lewis and Clark to find a “water route” to the Pacific Ocean from the Mississippi River” another piece of evidence is “Second, Jefferson wanted to claim the northwestern portion of the continent’s midsection before another country did. Lastly, he thought that knowledge of the area’s geography would be needed for all of the other goals to come true”. This is proof that Lewis & Clark didn’t accomplish all of their goals because their main goal was to find a direct water

Jefferson then gave Lewis another job which was to lead an expedition into the lands of the great Mississippi.

Getting horses was the first Sacajawea’s contribution to the expedition. More than any one, Sacajawea desired to join the journey to Pacific Ocean, which she called “ the Great Salt Lake”4 because she wanted to find her homeland on the way. In American history, this event was the greatest corporation between white men and an Indian. Moreover, Sacajawea became an important part of a historic mission, while the significant role of American woman in society was not recognized. Sacajawea had knowledge of wilderness and skills to survive, so she could teach the men how read the land and use chokeberries to cure fever.

I never learnt anything about the U.S. history before I came to a high school in Boston. The stories about Native Americans and exploration of west had always attracted me because nothing like that ever happened in the Chinese history. And this is the reason why I am going to do the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They were just so brave to explore a land that the Americans knew nothing about. Not only their spirit, the journals they kept and the maps they made were also precious gifts for the explorers after them.

The film “Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West” by National Geographic was well made and very informative. The documentary even gave you the small bits of information such as how Lewis almost lost his life two days in the journey or how Lewis was a constant victim of mosquitoes. The film also continuously read passages from the journals of Lewis and Clark which helped you have an idea of personality of the explorers. Lewis and Clark were very inspirational and admired by the men because the film said that there is no evidence “that the two ever argued.” They also seemed very effective leaders since the film never mentioned any complaints from the men of their leaders.