Why Did Lewis And Clark Explore The West

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.

Jefferson had secured agreement form the ambassadors of England, France, and Spain that their counties would not try to interfere with Lewis and Clark expedition. The explorers met with Osage Indians on their way of expedition but the Indians were peaceful. For unknown to Leis and Clark, the Spanish had reneged on the promise of safe conduct given to Jefferson by the Spanish ambassadors. Yrujo had warned his Spanish men that American were taking toward the South Sea and he urged commandant Salcedo general of Viceroyalty of New Spain to arrest Lewis and his followers and to seize all the documents that may be found on them. Then Salcedo encouraged his Indian allied to attack Lewis and Clark, but Comanches Indians never found them. The Lakotas was invited to the council by a French-Canadian interpreter who had lived among them and the first meeting with the Lakota was done well. I think Lewis and Clark could have exacted amicable relations if they were acting on their own because they both worked under the order of Jefferson to explore.

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.

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

Then they also had to deal with mosquitoes, they were a major problem for the explorers because, the mosquitoes would cause swelling of the face and eyes. Besides that they had to handle encountering many different wild animals. One encounter Lewis nearly died getting attacked by a grizzly bear. To continue the explorers had to try an make good relations with Native Americans and they usually went well except for one incident where they had to fight. There wasn’t any casualties for the explorers but two members out of the black fleet tribe died. They would also get lost an be on the verge of starving. However by the end of the expedition there was only one casualty, Sargent Charles Floyd and it was from a ruptured appendix so for the explorers this was a successful expedition.

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-

The group that helped William Clark and Meriwether Lewis were called Corps of Discovery by many historians. They faced many dangers like meeting the Native Americans and bringing unprepared for the weather. Along their way, they met many Native Americans who helped them to survive. They knew that meeting a different group of Native American could be deadly. Along the way they picked up Sacajawea who was a part of the Shoshone Indian who acted as their interrupter and guide along their voyage. While Sacajawea was helping Lewis and Clark on their expedition she gave birth to a child. They reached the Pacific Ocean on November 1805. They stayed along the Pacific Coast and built shelter for the winter. In 1806 Lewis and Meriwether took different routes one by boat and one by foot. While Lewis was exploring the Land by his feet he was robbed by Indian and shot by one of his men hunting. Thankfully, Lewis and Meriwether met up. Throughout their journey they traveled nearly 8,000 miles.

The year of 1803 significantly changed our nation eternally. It stunned many people. In no way, shape or form, did we ever believe that our nation would expand so rapidly. What started with the small purchase of New Orleans led into the substantial purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This was a purchase that will make Thomas Jefferson a man to be remembered. Although, he wasn’t the only man who impacted the United States during this time period. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are the two men that are greatly known for their expedition across the Louisiana Territory. These two subjects, the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, altered our nation immeasurably.

Their expedition was full of confusing water ways that could potentially ruin their exploration for the most convenient route through the Louisiana Purchase. One problem was that America claimed parts of land that were occupied by the Native Americans; this was a problem because this caused many disputes between Americans and the Natives that lived there. This expedition was not to find trade roots or to search for science but was to discover the Louisiana Purchase. In May of 1804 the expedition started off in camp Dubois next they arrive at St. Charles, and then they ventured on the Missouri river. Next in June the journey moves

Winter- The lewis and clark expedition crew stopped for the winter along a small river, south of the Columbia. They built a fort, fort Clatsop which was named after the closest tribe of native Americans at that time. During the winter, they didn 't have a lot of adventurous activities to fill their time with, so they devoted their time to making moccasins, buckskin clothing, storing their food, and wring out unfinished maps and journaling their thoughts and findings. Their everyday life was filled with gloomy, wet, poor weather. Their food wasn’t any better, bad stringy elk with bitter indigenous roots. The Captains wanted to trade with an oncoming ship for food and supplies. Ships from the U.S. ports and Britain frequently stopped at the mouth of the Columbia . One actually did stop. They traded with the Indians but the Indians didn’t tell the expedition team.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition was a journey of discovery. They were supposed to travel up the Missouri River and eventually make their way west to the Pacific Ocean. They were responsible for drawing maps of the area they traveled through. They were also supposed to find out as much as they could about the different plants and animals that lived in the territory.

They traveled in three boats. One which was a keelboat with only one sail which was known for the cabin in the middle, but it also took 22 men to Dow the boat. The other two types of boats were called pirogues. They were a lot smaller than the keelboat and only needed six oars to be used. They also brought along to horses that men rode against the river bank. They had many reasons to bring the horses with them like to carry supplies, but they were also used for later in the expedition when they food they brought was getting low and needed to keep there nutrition up to be healthy. The expedition was not planned to take more than one and a half years but instead lasted for about another whole year. Lewis and Clark has many objects that were getting in their way. They had to deal with humongous mountain rangers and even had problems in the water with logs, branches, and large rocks as they were floating down the rivers but luckily they got through the problems they faced with such excellent leaders. By August the men had reached South Dakota. As they traveled through the plains they went across many buffalo. They hunted buffalo for food along with turkeys, geese, fish while going down the river and even beaver. The men even came across new animals that they have never saw before such as coyotes, prairie dogs, jackrabbits and pronghorn. When Lewis and Clark found new plants, and animals, they wrote it down in their journal along with facts about the weather, land, and native Americans they came

Even before Louisiana was purchased Jefferson wanted to launch an expedition to explore the west. With Lousiana having been purchased this was the perfect time for Jefferson to launch his expedition and so he did. The expedition was called the Corps of Discovery or more famously know as the Lewis and Clark expedition (Vision 181) .The leaders for this journey were Meriwether Lewis who was Jefferson's private secretary and William Clark who was an army officer. Among them were 27 other members. For Jefferson, this expedition was meant for scientific discovery. He wanted Lewis and Clark to study the plants and animals of the area. In order to prepare for this Jefferson sent Lewis to Philadelphia to study zoology, astronomy, and botany (Vision 181). From this, we can see that Jefferson was serious about this expedition and wanted his information to come from somebody who knew a lot about different scientific fields. Another goal of the expedition was to study Native American life and possibly establish a trade network with them. The expedition started in May of 1804 and they returned home in 1806. Throughout their journey, they spent their winters with different Indian groups. Their first winter was spent at Fort Mandan in North Dakota with the Mandan Indians. During this time the groups socialized with each other, hunted, and traded. This opened up doors for Lewis and Clark to study Native American life. In November of 1805 they reached the Pacific ocean and spent their second winter at Fort Clatsop in Oregon. This stop also gave them some good observation, but the weather wasn’t always that great. Gray skies and rain was very common in Oregon. Overall, their trip was a success. A lot of that has to due with the help of Sacajawea. Sacajawea helped the group by acting as a translator and knew the makeup of the land. Sacajawea also made the group

They recorded and observed over one hundred animal species and one hundred-seventy plants. They met many Indian tribes, where they learned the importance of communication. Many of the Indian tribes that they came into contact with were not hostile, and they accepted what little the voyagers had to trade with, such as beads and trinkets. Not to mention they traveled all the way from the East Coast to the Pacific Ocean. The leadership in this book is well demonstrated through both Lewis and through Clark as they both lead a successful voyage that gave Americans hope and helped support that someday the American colonies would spread all the way out to the Pacific Ocean. “Lewis and Clark traveled over 8,000 miles in less than 2 ½ years, losing only one member of their party” (nps.gov). If that is not success I don’t know what is.

What was the purpose of the Lewis and Clark expedition and what did the expedition accomplish?