With the invaluable Sacagawea, who acted as a translator and guide, the men journeyed up the Missouri River into Montana. In June , working with descriptions given them by Native Americans, they discovered the Great Falls of the Missouri, making them the first Americans to see them. Lewis described the awe-inspiring sight:.
I had proceded on this course about two miles After crossing the continental divide through the Lemhi Pass, at the present-day Montana-Idaho border, it became evident that there was no fabled all-water route to the Pacific that President Jefferson had hoped for.
The Corps then started a difficult mile trek over the Bitterroot Mountains the northern segment of the Rocky Mountains before taking the Clearwater, Snake and Columbia Rivers to what is now the coast of Oregon, where they beheld the Pacific Ocean for the first time in November Here, they spent the winter, while Lewis and Clark compiled reports describing all that they had learned and seen, which included intricate sketches made by Lewis of everything from the maple leaf to the vulture.
According to the National Park Service :. These reports contained measurements and observations of its course and its surrounding flora, fauna, tributaries and inhabitants…Lewis and Clark described at least plants and animals - including mammals, birds, reptiles and fish … New species that the Corps of Discovery encountered included pronghorn, bighorn sheep… mountain beaver, long-tailed weasel, mountain goat, coyote and various species of rabbit, squirrel, fox and wolf… They sent back descriptions, zoological specimens, and even a few live animals.
In March , the expedition began its journey back East. It was during this final leg of the expedition that the one violent skirmish — with the Blackfeet tribe at the Two Medicine Fight Site in Montana — occurred. The Corps of Discovery returned to St. Louis on September 23, Lewis and Clark headed to Washington, D.
The year-old was found not guilty of the charges, but his superiors decided to transfer him to a different rifle company to avoid any future incidents. His new commander turned out to be William Clark —the man who would later join him on his journey to the West. When Jefferson conceived of his grand expedition to the West in , he immediately named the rugged, intellectually gifted Lewis as its commander. To help the young secretary prepare, Jefferson gave him a crash course in the natural sciences and sent him to Philadelphia to study medicine, botany and celestial navigation.
Woolly Mammoth. Before Lewis and Clark completed their expedition, Americans could only speculate on what lurked in the uncharted territories beyond the Rocky Mountains. The expedition failed to sight any of the long-extinct creatures, but Lewis did describe previously unknown species of plants and new animals including coyotes, mountain beavers and grizzly bears.
That was distressing news for the Spanish, who feared the expedition might lead to the seizure of their gold-rich territories in the Southwest. On the suggestions of U. Army General James Wilkinson—a Spanish spy—the governor of New Mexico dispatched four different groups of Spanish soldiers and Comanche Indians to intercept the explorers and bring them back in chains. Luckily for Lewis and Clark, the hostile search parties failed to locate them in the vastness of the frontier. York statue by Ed Hamilton.
The beauty they discovered was beyond their wildest expectations. The people they encountered represented dozens of unique cultures, and enabled the successful completion of their mission. The geography, flora, fauna and other natural phenomena they documented resulted in an enormous body of scientific information that was new to the western world. The indigenous Native Americans were already very familiar with these "discoveries. Jefferson's final instructions to Lewis reflect the broad range of the President's interests.
The expedition was meant to prepare the way for the extension of the American fur trade and to advance geographical knowledge.
Jefferson provided the best supplies, clothing, firearms, equipment and rations then available. Lewis and Clark were instructed to observe and record the entire range of natural history and ethnology of the areas they explored, and note possible resources which would support future settlement. The Louisiana Purchase of had doubled the size of the nation, but a good share of the territory the expedition would explore was unmapped. Jefferson envisioned the nation's eventual expansion to the Pacific, and wanted to strengthen the American claim to the northwest Columbia Basin.
While there he recruited and trained men, while Lewis spent time in St. Louis, conferring with traders about the Upper Missouri regions and obtaining maps made by earlier explorers.
Charles, Missouri. The party numbered over 45, and included 27 young, unmarried soldiers, a French-Indian interpreter, and Clark's Black slave York. Travel up the Missouri River was difficult and exhausting due to heat, injuries, insects, and the troublesome river itself, with its strong current and many snags.
The expedition used a specially built keelboat and two smaller boats, called pirogues, to carry their supplies and equipment, averaging 15 miles per day. Blumberg, Rhoda. DeKeyser, Stacy. Edwards, Judith. Erdrich, Liselotte. Frazier, Neta Lohnes.
Gunderson, Jessica. Murphy, Claire Rudolf. Pringle, Laurence. Robinson, Kate. Sutcliffe, Jane. Tinling, Marion. Skip to main content. Jane D. What Was the Lewis and Clark George, Judith Book. York's Adventures With Blumberg, Rhoda Book.
Sacagawea DeKeyser, Stacy Book. The Great Expedition of Lewis Edwards, Judith Book. Sacagawea Erdrich, Liselotte Book. Your Life as A Private on the
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