Origins and Objectives of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
In 1803, the U.S. bought Louisiana from France. The vast portion of the territory west of the Mississippi River was entirely unknown to the people of the United States and required inspection before people could start living there. President Jefferson decided to direct an investigative trip to the West, so he selected his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, as the chief in charge of the trip and gave him proper guidelines for it.
Lewis requested his former Army officer, William Clark, to be his co-leader. Their task was to travel the unknown land, develop trade with the citizens and confirm the dominion of the U.S. in the area. One of their aims was to discover a watercourse that went from the United States to the Pacific Ocean. Clark and Lewis led the Corps of Discovery, which comprised 33 persons, including an Indian lady and a slave. The voyage continued from May 1804 until September 1806. They were unsuccessful in discovering a watercourse that went from the Mississippi towards the Pacific but successfully documented around 178 new plants and 100 animals, in addition to making 140 maps of the territory. The voyage was so notable in history that the tale of the travellers was pictured in several films, and numerous books have been written about the expedition. Sacagawea was a Native American who directed their mission, as she knew the native terrain much better than the European explorers did. The explorers, including Sacagawea and frequently her partner, are portrayed in several ways in portraits, models, and television (Lewis et al.).
Before becoming the 3rd President of the U.S., Thomas Jefferson had a dream of sending voyagers to North America. When Jefferson took presidential office in 1801, the majority of U.S. inhabitants lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. Information on the western part of the region was limited to what had been learned from French merchants and fur trappers and British and Spanish explorers. On 18 January 1803, President Jefferson sent a confidential letter to Congress requesting 2,500 dollars to fund an expedition towards the Pacific Ocean. He expected to create trade relations with the Native American people of the West and discover a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson was also fascinated by what might be learned about the topography of the West, the languages and lives of the Native American people, the animals and plants, the rocks, the soils, the climate, and how they varied compared with those in the East (Burroughs et al.).
President Jefferson’s selection to organize an expedition was Meriwether Lewis, his former secretary and a fellow native of Albemarle County, Virginia. Having attained the position of captain in the United States Army, Lewis possessed military discipline and experience that might prove invaluable. While in the Army, Lewis had served in a rifle company commanded by William Clark. It was Clark whom Lewis chose to support him in undertaking this United States Army trip, usually recognized nowadays as the “Corps of Discovery.” On February 28, 1803, Congress released the funds for the trip, and Jefferson’s vision came closer to becoming a reality (Clark and Journey).
Scientific Preparation and Expeditionary Equipment
It was important for Lewis to acquire some technical skills and purchase tools that would be required on the expedition. In the spring of 1803, Lewis traveled to Philadelphia to prepare for the expedition with the top scientists of that time. Andrew Ellicott trained Lewis in map-designing skills and surveying. Benjamin Smith Barton taught Lewis botany, Robert Patterson taught mathematics, Caspar Wistar taught anatomy and fossils, and Benjamin Rush taught medicine (Miller).
While in Philadelphia, Lewis bought many of the tools that were needed for the expedition. His shopping list comprised scientific tools, for example, a sextant and chronometer, an air rifle, ammunition and arms, ink, medicines, and other supplies for periodic use, as well as a huge collection of other things, which included more than 193 pounds of portable soup, blankets, oiled linen mosquito netting, a corn mill, materials for making tents, tools, candles, and reference books (Hamen).
Recruitment, Documentation, and Early Travel
Clark and Lewis spent the winter of 1803-04 at Camp Dubois on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, upstream from St. Louis. From there, the captains recruited more men, increasing the ranks of the “Corps of Volunteers for Northwest Discovery” to more than 40. As spring advanced, the members of the Expedition collected food and other supplies and packed them into containers, baggage, and boxes. The ships were laden, and all the people were prepared for departure. On May 14, 1804, the Clark & Lewis Expedition began its journey towards the Missouri River (Clark and Coues).
Clark, Lewis, and other participants in the Expedition began writing in their journals, a practice that was sustained throughout the expedition. Mapmaking was likewise significant, chiefly in the previously uncharted areas. As the travelers came across different streams and rivers, they were responsible for naming these rivers and streams. They named them after well-known American people, for example, James Madison and Jefferson, and after associates and participants in the voyage. The same was true of some of the new animals and plants that they came across. Several of these designations are still in use nowadays.
Geographic Observation and Western Exploration
At the end of July, the travelers camped north of the mouth of the Platte River at a place they named Council Bluff. Lewis wrote in his journal that the location was excellent for trading posts. It was here on August 3 that Clark and Lewis had their 1st meeting with Native American people, a small group of Missouri and Oto Indians. During this period, Sergeant Charles Floyd, one of the warriors, became severely ill and passed away due to a ruptured appendix on the 20th of August. He was the only person on the journey to pass away during the expedition (Allen).
As the journey traveled up the Missouri River at the end of August and in September, the scenery and places along the river changed significantly. The forests retreated, replaced firstly by the tall steppe grass and after that by the short grass of the higher grasslands. Hundreds of cows were seen grazing, and grassland dogs were first seen. The nighttime temperatures became much colder, with ice on the land on several mornings. Clark and Lewis planned to winter close to the long-established communities occupied by great numbers of the Hidatsa and Mandan tribes, north of present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. On October 26, 1804, the Expedition reached the earth-lodge Indian towns, around 2100 kilometers from Camp Dubois. A decent place was discovered for the camp, and the men set about constructing Fort Mandan across the stream from the Indian townships.
Indigenous Relations and the Expedition’s Legacy
In the winter season, Clark and Lewis worked to create good relations with the Indian people, who had been trading with French-Canadian and English merchants for some time. One of these merchants, Toussaint Charbonneau, was convinced to join the journey as a translator when it left in the spring. His young pregnant wife, Sacagawea, who had been seized from her Lemhi Shoshone tribe years earlier by the Hidatsa, was to go along, too. Sacagawea, therefore, became the only female participant in the journey. Her child, named Jean Baptiste, was born on February 11, 1805. Clark and Lewis understood that Sacagawea could be valuable as a guide as the journey continued toward the West, and they supposed the presence of the woman and her child could indicate that the party was a peaceful one.
Traveling with the Missouri’s current, the journey was capable of covering a distance of up to 70 miles per day. The travelers visited the villages of Mandan on the 14th of August, and they parted company with Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and young Jean Baptiste. The Expedition ended its trip when it reached St. Louis on September 23, 1806. President Jefferson had believed that these people could be away for around a year and, therefore, had feared for their safety. It took the Clark and Lewis Expedition about two years, four months, and nine days to travel across the western part of the region and return.
President Jefferson’s instructions to Lewis were so extensive as to be nearly impossible to carry out. However, he observed the Expedition as a marvelous achievement. The discoveries made by the travelers transformed the understanding of this new nation. No waterway towards the Pacific Ocean was discovered, but precise and full maps were made. Peaceful interactions were conducted with Native American people, and trading methods were discussed. The body of information added to the scientific community proved to be priceless, and vast stretches of North America were discovered. Clark and Lewis‘s “voyage of discovery” became one of Thomas Jefferson’s supreme lasting legacies.
Works Cited
Burroughs, Raymond Darwin, et al. Natural History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Michigan State University Press, 1995.
Clark, Frank Henry, and An Amazing Journey. Lewis and Clark Expedition. Boston College, 1927.
Clark, Lewis &., and Elliott Coues. The History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Dover Publications, 2012. (H)
Miller, Robert J. Lewis, and Clark Expedition. 2008.
Hamen, Susan E. Lewis, and Clark Expedition. ABDO, 2008.
Allen, John Logan. Passage through the Garden: Lewis and Clark and the Image of the American Northwest. Univ of Illinois Pr, 1975.
Lewis, Meriwether, et al. The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Journals of Joseph Whitehouse, May 14, 1804-April 2, 1806. Vol. 11, U of Nebraska Press, 1997.
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