The Corps of Discovery: Discovering the Wild West

By: Kelli Cochran

My Objective

Summarize what the men discovered during the expedition.

For the test question you will need to watch out for the 3 goals that Jefferson wanted Lewis and Clark to accomplish in the expedition.

Basic Information

What: The Lewis and Clark Expedition When: 1804- 1806 Who: Meriwether Lewis, William Clark,

and 30 other members. Why: Thomas Jefferson sent them on a

visionary project to explored the unknown West.

How It All Began…

Thomas Jefferson convinced Congress to spend $2,500 on a western expedition. Jefferson chose army captain Meriwether Lewis to lead the exploration and Lewis chose William Clark, his good friend and also an army officer as his co-leader. Lewis and Clark chose 30 other men to help them on the expedition.

How It All Began… (cont.)

Jefferson didn’t send the men out into the unknown west for nothing. He had a plan. His goal was for Lewis and Clark to discover new plant and animal life, to make contact with the Native Americans living in the Louisiana area, and to find out if a waterway existed between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.

Pacific Ocean

This map is showing where Lewis and Clark explored.

The Permanent Party

Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark out on an expedition. Twenty-nine men started out with Lewis and Clark. Through out the journey another four people joined the expedition. The group was called the Permanent Party.

Sacagawea Her husband,

Toussaint Charbonneau, was a French Canadian interpreter and he was asked to join the Corps Of Discovery. He was asked to choose one of his wives to help on the trip. He choose Sacagawea, who would help with translations. On Feb. 11, 1805, Sacagawea had her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.

Sacagawea (cont.)

Sacagawea was one of the main people who helped out on the expedition. She showed the men edible plants and helped them hunt down animals. Also when the boat would tip she would help save the important supplies that was needed for the journey. Sacagawea also helped locate were the party was.

Impacts on the Native Americans

The lives of Native Americans would be changed forever by their contact with the soldiers, fur traders, and missionaries of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. One of Jefferson’s goals was for the men to make a good relationship with the Native Americans. Lewis and Clark did so for trading good purposes. The lives of Americans would be changed forever also.

Impacts on the Americans

The United States gained so much from this exploration of discovery. They found new animal and plant species and found a better relationship with the Native Americans. Also it impacted the Americans because now that they knew more about the Louisiana Purchase they could travel out there and learn more for themselves.

What They Accomplished Like stated before, Jefferson

had three main goals for Lewis and Clark to “discover”. The two men did discover new plant and animal life, and even sent Jefferson a prairie dog in a cage (which wasn’t discovered until then). They also made friends with the Native Americans. But sadly, they didn’t find a direct waterway from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.

The Ending

Not finding the waterway wasn’t great, it still turned out to be a great achievement in American history.