Lewis and Clark Expedition

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Lewis and Clark Expedition

• The Beginnings

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Thomas Jefferson

• Jefferson took office in 1801 and during the time
  most of the United States lived 50 miles from the
  Atlantic Ocean
• Americans only knew about the West from fur
  trappers and British and Spanish Explorers
• Jefferson decided to form an expedition on a
  budget of 2,500 to explore the West
• In order to form the expedition he needed to get
  permission from Congress and January 18, 1803 he
  sent a confidential letter to congress requesting
  the expedition to be formed.
• Congress granted his request and the idea for the
  expedition was formed.

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Reasons for Exploring

• Jefferson wanted to find a water route that lead
  to the Pacific Ocean.
• He hope to establish relationships with Indian
  tribes of the West in hopes establish trade
• Jefferson also wanted to see what could be
  learned about the geography of the West, the
  lives and languages of Native Americans, the
  plants and animals, the soil, the rock, the
  weather, and how they differed from those in the
  East.

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Louisiana Purchase

• The expedition was founded before the Louisiana
  Purchase was bought and Jefferson was going
  explore the land even though the French owned it.
• Jefferson wanted the territory but mainly he
  wanted control over the port town of New Orleans.
• The land was purchased from France who was being
  ruled at the time by Napoleon Bonaparte.
• They agreed to purchase the Louisiana Territory
  which included New Orleans. In the end the
  acquired more land that they had originally hoped
  for.
• The purchase from France cost 15 million and was
  827,000 square miles of land.
• The new territory gained doubled the size of the
  United States.

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Meriwether Lewis

• Meriwether Lewis was one of Thomas Jeffersons
  childhood friend.
• He served six years in the Frontier army and rose
  to the level of a Captain.
• In 1801 Lewis was appointed as Thomas Jeffersons
  personal secretary and aid.
• Lewis was named the commander of the expedition
  created to explore the lands gained during the
  Louisiana Purchase.
• He was given the task of finding a co-commander
  to help him lead the expedition.

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William Clark

• Clark was a Virginia native just like Meriwether
  Lewis.
• All of Clarks brothers were Revolutionary War
  veterans and he started his military career at
  the age of 19 by joining the Virginia Militia.
• He reached the status of a lieutenant in the
  regular army and later moved up to the position
  of a Captain.
• Twice Clark was used to spy on the Spanish to
  monitor their building of forts and explorations.
  

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Reasons the leaders were chosen

• Meriwether Lewis
• Brave, practical and careful
• Familiar with the woods
• Knowledgeable with Indian manners and character
• In great physical condition
• Took courses in astronomy as well as cartography.
  
• Sharp eye for details about plants and animals

• William Clark
• Learned how to build forts
• Knew how to draw maps
• Could lead pack trains through enemy country
• Had fought the Indians on their ground.

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The beginning of the Expedition

• Lewis and Clark were responsible for choosing the
  men to accompany them on their journey.
• They started preparing and gathering people and
  supplies to take with them on the trip.
• The men had an keel boat crafted so that they
  could travel up the river.
• The keel boat was useful because it could be
  rowed, sailed, poled like a raft, or towed from
  the riverbank.
• Two wooden Pirogues were taken along as well to
  hold men and supplies.

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Types of Supplies Brought

• Mathematical instruments
• Camp supplies
• Presents for Indians
• Clothing
• Arms and Ammunition
• Medicine and medical supplies
• Books and resources

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Mathematical Instruments

• Surveyors compass
• Hand compass
• Quadrants
• Telescopes
• Thermometers
• Sextants
• Plotting instruments
• Chronometer

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Camp Supplies

• 150 yards of cloth to be oiled and sewn into
  tents and sheets
• Pliers
• Chisels
• Steels for striking fire
• Hatchets
• Mosquito curtains
• Fishing hooks and line
• Soap
• Portable soup
• Salt
• Writing ink , paper and crayons

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Presents for Indians

• Pocket mirrors
• Sewing needles
• Scissors
• Sewing Thread
• Ribbons
• Combs
• Handkerchiefs
• Tobacco
• Tomahawks that served as pipes
• Knives
• Kettles
• Beads

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Clothing and Ammunition

• Flannel shirts
• Coats
• Frocks
• Shoes
• Woolen pants
• Blankets
• Knapsacks
• Stockings

• 15 .54 Caliber riffles
• Knives
• 420 pounds of sheet lead for bullets
• 176 pounds of gunpowder
• 500 rifle flints
• 1 compressed air rifle

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Medical Supplies

• 50 dozen of Rushs pills
• Lancets
• Forceps
• Syringes
• Tourniquets
• Doses for physic, emetic, diaphoretic
• Other drugs for blistering, salivation, and
  increased kidney output

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Library Resources

• Bartons Elements of Botany
• Antoine Simon Le Page du Pratzs History of
  Louisiana
• Richard Kirwans Elements of Mineralogy
• A Practical Introduction to Spherics and Nautical
  Astronomy
• The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris
• a four-volume dictionary
• a two-volume edition of Linnaeus (the founder of
  the Latin classification of plants)
• tables for finding longitude and latitude
• map of the Great Bend of the Missouri River

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Corps of Discovery

• The Corps of Discovery was the name given to
  Lewis and Clark and the members of their
  expedition.
• The corps consisted of many different types of
  people and it was Lewis and Clarks job to decide
  what types of men they needed for the job and who
  was best suited.

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Translators

• Lewis and Clark needed translators of many Indian
  languages to help them along their journey.
• They often hired men who spoke multiple languages
  and help them with many Indian tribes.
• Some translators did not know English and Lewis
  and Clark had to go through a line of many
  translators just to communicate.
• Verbal Indian language, while useful was not the
  only form of communication the explorers needed
  to use. Sign language was an important aspect in
  Native American culture, so Lewis and Clark
  brought translators along who could sign as well.
  
• They also needed translators who were familiar
  with the unknown territories of the west.

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Toussaint Charbonneau

• Charbonneau was a French fur trader who lived
  amongst the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians.
• He spoke French as well as Hidatsa and was chosen
  to be a translator and to also bring his one of
  his wifes Sacagawea along on the trip.
• At first Charbonneau rejected the offer because
  he did not want to have to perform regular duties
  of other men on the trip, but he apologized and
  the Captains signed him onto the trip.

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George Drouillard

• Drouillard was helpful to Lewis and Clark because
  he knew the Indian character and sign language.
• He had a French Canadian father and a Shawnee
  Indian mother.
• He was one of the only non-military men to
  complete the trip from camp Dubois to the Pacific
  and back

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• Sacagawea was a Shoshone Indian girl who was
  taken from her people by the Hidatsa Indians.
• She was then sold to Toussaint Charbonneau as a
  slave who then later took her as one of his
  wives.
• Charbonneau and Sacagawea were a translating team
  because she knew how to speak Shoshone as well as
  Hidatsa.
• She remembered trails from when she was a child
  and proved to be very valuable on the trip

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Jean Baptiste

• Sacagewea was the only woman on the expedition
  and she was also pregnant at the time.
• She had a baby boy and named him Jean Baptist
  Charbonneau.
• Clark too great favoritism to the little boy and
  foundly referred to him as little pompy or pomp.
• This nickname was created because he was a little
  boy who was always showing off and dancing.
• Clark carved his name into a tower of sandstone
  in a river bend and called it Pompys tower.
  Today you can still see the name and it is the
  only evidence of the explorers that is still left
  on the trail.

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York

• York was Captain Clarks slave and he is the only
  other non-military man besides Drouillard to
  complete the whole trip.
• He helped the explorers wherever needed and was
  said to be a hunter and also concerned with the
  safety of the camp.
• The Indians often took interest in York because
  he was the first black man that they had ever
  seen.

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Seaman

• Lewis brought along his Newfoundland dog on the
  trip with him.
• The dogs name was originally thought to be
  Scannon do to historians misreading the journals
  written by the men on the trip.
• Seaman was a great companion and would often help
  the explorers by barking and warning them of up
  coming dangers.

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Military Officers

• Lewis and Clark took many military officers with
  them along the trip. They were used as protection
  as well as man power to maneuver the boats and
  supplies.
• The men ranged in rank from captains to sergeants
  and privates.

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Charles Floyd

• Floyd was a sergeant on the trip.
• He wrote journals along the way that were later
  published along with another Corps member.
• He died unexpectedly on the trip and was the only
  reported causality.
• Medical professionals believe that he died of a
  ruptured appendix.

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Francois Labiche

• Labiche was a private on the trip, but he became
  very useful to Lewis and Clark.
• He was useful in the train of translation because
  he could speak French which enabled him to talk
  to Charbonneau who could speak to Sacagewea.
• Labiche was also a skilled boatman and frontier
  trader and knew several lower Missouri Indian
  languages.