The Lewis and Clark Expedition:Mapping a Water Route to the West Coast

to accompany them. The purpose of this expedition was to find a water route to the Pacific, to

Louis. From there they sailed up to the Wood River where they established Camp Dubois for the winter. Lewis and Clark completed their preparation during the winter by buying supplies, over hauling their boats, drilling their men, and completing their roster. A total of twenty-five soldiers and twenty civilian boatmen, guides, and hunters were selected for the expedition. Lewis estimated this journey would last at least two years. Finally on May 14, 1804 the expedition began.

In May of 1804, two men set out on an important journey that would take them across the country and discover new land, but none of it would have been possible without the aid of one woman. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was planned by Thomas Jefferson, in order to explore the unknown in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory, and also to find a water route across the continent. Along the way the group of men met a quiet native, named Sacagawea, whose impact would later have a large effect on the success of their important journey.

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

traveled,Clark spent most of his time on the ship journaling the course and making maps. Lewis wa s often on the shore, studying the rock formations, soil,animals, and plants along the way.

The question arises of why Thomas Jefferson commenced the great expedition of Lewis and Clark. “ Jefferson wanted to form an expedition that were able to gather valuable information about Western Indians while living at peace with them” (Ronda 1). This was important because the people that were going to move into the Louisiana territory had to make sure they had peace with the Native American. If people take away the Native’s food source, or destroy the materials they make a living out of, is going to cause conflict between the two. “The expedition was fashioned to explore the vast wilderness of what is now North Western United States. It was sponsored by the United States government and was led by U.S. army officers

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.

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.

The Lewis and Clark expedition had many beneficial economic effects on the arising American country. The newly charted territory began the great Western expansion of the American people. The first to travel to the West were the fur traders. The American Fur trade was described as, "a distinct and necessary phase in the growth of this new country" (Legends of America). The fur trading became a booming business and attracted the attention of many American civilians. The West was seen as a new

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-

He chose his military superior, William Clark, to join him and from there Clark selected a handful of men from the Kentucky area. Lewis was classified as the captain of the journey but when in private he would also refer to Clark as captain since they both did equal amounts of work. The group of men that Clark gathered to accompany them on their journey endured training in Illinois to prepare. Lewis left the job of training men to Clark while he gathered weaponry and supervised a construction project that would be needed on their

When the Louisiana Purchase was made by Thomas Jefferson in 1802, nobody in the United States knew anything about the territory. Everyone had to know more about the huge land grant that was just purchased by the U.S. People took the challenge and went out to see the great land. Famous explorers are known for their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Two famous explorers are known by many, Lewis and Clark. Although, there is one explorer that is less known but explored just as much area as Lewis and Clark. Zebulon Pike started his expedition of the Louisiana Purchase shortly after Lewis and Clark.

North of St. Louis, in Mississippi and Missouri rivers, William Clark established “ Camp River Dubois” in 1803 on December. Lewis spent time in St. Louis talking with traders about Missouri upper regions and also started to obtain maps of the area while Clark stat at the camp recruiting and training men.Clark left with the Corps of Discovery on May 14, 1804 and then was joined by Lewis in St. Charles. There was more than forty-five people in the party and they also costed of young, unmarried soldiers, a French-Indian interpreter, unmarried soldiers, and Clark’s Black slave York.

They set out on their expedition in 1804 starting in St. Louis. They were told to explore the whole western United States with their team of about four dozen men. They met many Natives along the way and were friendly with them, therefore they got along with most of them. There was a time where the expedition could have ended because they could have died from Natives, but the leader of the Natives told his tribe to walk away. Lewis and Clark were thankful.

By that time the expedition that was led by Meriwether Lewis was going through where I lived. Lewis decided