The Lewis and Clark Expedition

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The Lewis and Clark Expedition
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In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought more
than 2 million square kilometers of land in North
America from France. We call this land The
Louisiana Purchase. It is located in the
western part of the United States. Jefferson
wanted to know about this new territory. He
asked Merriweather Lewis and William Clark to
explore it and report back to him.
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On May 14, 1804, Lewis and Clark left St. Louis
with about fifty men in three boats. They planned
to follow the Missouri River to the place where
it begins. No one in the United States was sure
where that was.
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At first, the Missouri River was very wide, but
not very deep. Sometimes the men had to walk in
the water and pull the boats.
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The land next to the river was flat. There were
not many trees. There was only grass. Lewis and
Clark visited the hill in this picture because
the Indians told them that evil spirits lived
there. Lewis and Clark did not see any evil
spirits!
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Only one person, Sgt. Charles Floyd, died during
the expedition. Today there is a monument to Sgt.
Floyd in Sioux City, Iowa, the place where he
died.
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The first winter, they built Fort Mandan near an
Indian village. This was the place where Lewis
and Clark met Sacagawea and Toussaint
Charbonneau. Today it is in North Dakota.
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The next spring on April 7, 1805, Lewis and
Clark left Fort Mandan and continued to follow
the Missouri River west. The land here was not
flat. There were not many plants or trees. In
June, Lewis and Clark had a problem. The Missouri
River and the Marias River come together. Lewis
and Clark were not sure which river to follow.
They werent sure which river was the Missouri.
It took them a week to decide, but they chose the
right river.
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Which way should we go? Which river is the
Missouri?
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Soon, Lewis and Clark had another problem. There
were several waterfalls along the Missouri River.
Lewis and Clark could not go up the falls in
their boats. They had to carry all the boats and
all the equipment for about 30 kilometers to go
around the falls. Today, because of dams on the
Missouri River, there are no waterfalls. But the
city there is still called Great Falls, Montana.
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It took Lewis and Clark and their men almost a
month to move all their boats and equipment
around the Great Falls.
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Now Lewis and Clark were in the mountains. The
mountains were getting higher and higher. Soon
they couldnt travel in boats anymore. The river
was too small. They had to find some Indians to
get horses and more supplies. Luckily, they met
a group of Shoshone Indians, and their chief was
Sacagaweas brother. They got horses and
supplies and continued to follow the Missouri
River to its source.
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Finally, they found the source of the Missouri
River. Today this is located near the border
between Montana and Idaho. It is also very near
where Sacagawea was born.
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The next winter was very difficult for Lewis and
Clark. They were high in the mountains. There
werent many wild animals, so they had to kill
and eat some of their horses. There was also a
lot of snow. They walked through the mountains
on dangerous, narrow trails. Some of the horses
died when they fell off the trail. Lewis and
Clark also lost the equipment that the horses
were carrying.
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Finally, they were over the mountains and began
to follow the Lochsa River to the Pacific Ocean.
They built canoes and sailed down the river. The
Lochsa flows into other rivers and also has some
waterfalls, so the danger was not over yet for
Lewis and Clark.
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Finally, in November 1805, they reached the
Pacific Ocean. They built another fort, Fort
Clatsop, and spent the winter on the coast of
Oregon. It rained all winter, and the men were
not very happy. At least there was no snow!
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The trip from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean took
almost two years, but the trip home took only six
months. When Lewis and Clark and their men
arrived in St. Louis on September 23, 1806, the
people cheered in the streets. Today people
remember Lewis and Clark as explorers and heroes.
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