THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY (LEWIS & CLARK’S

EXPEDITION)

Cody Tolliver

Thesis The Expedition of the Corps of Discovery

shaped a crude route to the waters of the Pacific and marked an initial pathway for the new nation to spread westward from ocean to ocean, fulfilling what would become to many Americans an obvious destiny.

Background Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, who with William Clark led

the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the uncharted American interior to the Pacific Northwest in 1804–1806.

Lewis later served as governor of Upper Louisiana Territory. The Lewis and Clark Expedition spanned 8,000 mi (13,000 km) and three years.

The journey called The Corps of Discovery, as the expedition party was known, started down the Ohio River, up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and to the Pacific Ocean.

Lewis served as the field scientist, chronicling botanical, zoological, meteorological, geographic and ethnographic information.

The next year he served with William Clark, a man who would later help him on one of the greatest expeditions of all time.

Lewis joined the regular army and achieved the rank of captain. In 1801, he was asked by President Thomas Jefferson to act as his private secretary.

Overview In May, 1804, Meriwether Lewis and

William Clark set out on an amazing expedition across the Louisiana Territory.

These true American heroes faced unknown people, harsh conditions and unexplored lands to secure a place in history as two of the world's greatest explorers.

Jefferson Calls on Lewis In 1801, Lewis left the army and accepted an

invitation to serve as Thomas Jefferson’s presidential secretary.

Lewis had known Jefferson since he was a boy, and grew on a Virginia plantation only a few miles from Monticello.

The pair went on to forge a mentor and protégé relationship while working together in the White House.

When Jefferson announced his grand expedition to the West in 1802, he immediately named Lewis as its commander.

Lewis Meets Clark Jefferson chose his personal secretary, Meriwether

Lewis, an intelligent and literate man who also possessed skills as a frontiersman.

Lewis in turn solicited the help of William Clark, whose abilities as draftsman and frontiersman were even stronger.

Lewis so respected Clark that he made him a co-commanding captain of the Expedition, even though Clark was never recognized as such by the government.

Together they collected a diverse military Corps of Discovery that would be able to undertake a two-year journey to the great ocean

The Purpose In May 1804, President Thomas Jefferson

dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s on the Corps of Discovery.

An expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase and hunt for an all-water route across the North American continent.

The two-and-a-half-year trek saw the men travel some 8,000 miles from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back.

By the time they finally emerged from the wilderness in September 1806, they had made contact with dozens of Indian tribes.

The Expedition Begins

Lewis, Clark, and the rest of their expedition began their journey near St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1804.

This group – often called the Corps of Discovery by historians faced nearly every obstacle and hardship imaginable on their trip.

They braved dangerous waters and harsh weather and endured hunger, illness, injury, and fatigue.

Along the way, Lewis kept a detailed journal and collected samples of plants and animals he encountered.

Lewis and his expedition received assistance in their mission from many of the native peoples they met during their journey westward.

Start Through St. Louis Lewis and Clark started upstream on the Missouri

River from their St. Louis area camp. On May 14, William Clark and nearly four dozen other

men met up with Meriwether Lewis on May 20. The Lewis and Clark expedition—“The Corps of

Discovery“ than began Lewis and Clark began making their way up the

Missouri River aboard a 55-foot-long keelboat and two smaller pirogues.

As they traveled, Clark spent most of his time on the keelboat, charting the course and making maps.

Lewis was often ashore, studying the rock formations, soil, animals, and plants along the way.

First Encounter On August 2, a party of Oto and Missouri

Indians arrived at the expedition's camp. This was the first Indian encounter which

went well for Lewis and Clark. The two sides had an exchanging of

greetings and gifts. President Jefferson had specifically

mentioned the need to make a friendly impression on this powerful tribe.

Standoff with the Teton Sioux One of the Teton chiefs demanded a boat as

the price of passage for Lewis and Clark. When the Indians became threatening, the

expedition prepared to meet force with force. Clark drew his sword, and Lewis turned the

keelboat's swivel gun on the Sioux. At the last moment both sides pulled back, and

the crisis was over. Nevertheless, the expedition had failed to

deliver on Jefferson's hopes for friendly relations with the Sioux.

Surviving Winter Lewis and Clark were keen to cover as many miles as

possible before the Missouri froze. Four days after the first snowfall, they reached the

Mandan tribe’s villages, where they planned to spend the winter.

Without delay the expedition members began to build a fort.

Before the end of November, when ice was already running in the river, the fort was finished.

Temperatures dipped to below 0ºF (-18ºC), and guards, posted around the clock, had to be relieved every half hour.

The expedition's food supplies soon began to decrease. To make it through the winter, the captains would have to find a supply of meat for the men.

Rockies In Sight In early May the expedition almost lost one of its two

pirogues when a sudden gust of wind caught the sails and heeled the vessel over on its side.

Sacagawea saved precious journals and supplies that otherwise would have been lost.

By now Lewis and Clark were growing ever more anxious to catch sight of the Rockies.

In the last week of May, Lewis saw the mountains for the first time.

He was filled with joy, immediately tempered by a realization of the challenge that lay ahead.

Progress was slow on reaching the Rockies due to the frequently bending river, which was now shallow and was filled with jutting rocks.

Around the Great Falls On June 13 Lewis became the first white man to

see the Great Falls of the Missouri River. But to his astonishment there were five

separate falls, that went on for a 12-mile stretch. By June 16 Lewis had rejoined Clark, and six

days later the portage began. It was the hardest physical task of the trip so far. More than a month would pass before the

expedition was around the Great Falls and onto the next stretch of navigable water.

Beyond rose the Rocky Mountains.

Reaching The Pacific The Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific

Ocean in November of 1805. They built Fort Clatsop and spent the winter in

present-day Oregon. On the way back in 1806, Lewis and Clark split

up to explore more territory and look for faster route home.

Lewis and his men faced great danger when a group of Blackfeet Indians sought to steal from the corps in late July.

Two Blackfeet were killed in the ensuing conflict.

Sacagawea One of the most legendary members of the Lewis and Clark

expedition was Sacagawea. Sacagawea was a Shoshone Indian who had been kidnapped from her

tribe as an adolescent. Sacagawea, her husband and her newborn son first joined up with the

explorers as they wintered at a Hidatsa-Mandan settlement in 1804. She later served as an interpreter and occasional guide on their

journey to the Pacific. During a run-in with a band of Shoshone in the summer of 1805, she

famously discovered the tribe’s chief was none other than her long lost brother.

She had not seen since her brother since the abduction five years earlier.

The tearful reunion helped facilitate peaceful relations between the explorers and the Shoshone, allowing Lewis to procure much-needed horses for his trek over the Rockies.

Abandoning the Boats On March 23 the Corps of Discovery took its leave of Fort

Clatsop and began to travel up the Columbia River. During this leg of the journey, the men battled a strong

current and frequently had to portage around the river's falls.

The Chinookan Indians were a constant source of harassment.

Getting around all the falls proved too great a challenge. After leaving Fort Clatsop the expedition abandoned its

canoes. Lewis and Clark then acquired horses from the hospitable

Walla Walla tribe.

Crossing the Bitterroots

Lewis and Clark began making their way up the mountains to back home.

Soon they were traveling in ten feet of snow, packed so hard that it didn’t even have enough support for the horses.

The men couldn't find their way in such deep snow, and were forced to return to the Nez Perce for help.

Following Indian guides, they headed back up into the mountains.

On June 30 they reached Traveler's Rest, where Lewis and Clark decided to part ways in order to explore more of the Louisiana Territory.

Lewis and nine men would explore the Marias River to the north, while Clark and the others would head for the Yellowstone River in the south.

Parting Ways On July 3 Lewis and his group broke camp, crossing the

Continental Divide and descending from the mountains near the Great Falls.

The captain ordered his men to portage the supplies around the Falls, while he and three of the men went off to explore the Marias River.

Lewis and his colleagues knew the Marias was Blackfeet Indian territory—and therefore dangerous.

On July 26 eight Blackfeet spotted them. The Blackfeet seemed friendly, and the two groups decided to camp together.

In the morning one of the Indians snatched a pair of rifles, and in the struggle that followed two Indians who died.

Lewis and his men rode off, covering 120 miles in 24 hours, not knowing whether Blackfeet were giving chase.

Death on the Expedition The Lewis and Clark expedition suffered its first fatality in August

1804, when Sergeant Charles Floyd died near modern day Sioux City, Iowa.

Lewis diagnosed him as having “bilious colic,” but historians now believe he suffered from a burst appendix.

Over the next two years, the expedition endured everything from dysentery and snakebites to dislocated shoulders and even venereal disease.

Amazingly, no one else perished before the explorers returned to St. Louis in September 1806.

One of the worst injuries came during the trip home, when an enlisted man accidentally shot Lewis in the buttocks after mistaking him for an elk.

Though not seriously wounded, the explorer was forced to spend a few miserable weeks lying on his belly in a canoe while the expedition floated down the Missouri River.

Returning Home Traveling to Washington, Lewis and the other

members of the expedition received a warm welcome from nearly place they went.

Many towns held special events to herald the explorers’ return as they passed through.

Once reaching the nation’s capital, Lewis received payment for his courageous efforts.

Along with his salary and 1,600 acres of land, he was named governor of the Louisiana Territory.

Lewis also tried to publish the journals that he and Clark wrote during their great adventure.

Results Over the next two centuries the new

Americans and many immigrants would wash across the central and western portions of what would eventually become the contiguous 48 United States.

This wave of development would significantly transform virgin forests and grasslands into a landscape of cities, farms, and harvested forests.

Facts Congress allocated $2,500 for Lewis and Clark's

expedition. Jefferson made Lewis another offer – to lead an

expedition into the lands west of the Mississippi. Already eager to know more about these lands,

Jefferson’s interest in the area increased with purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803.

Jefferson asked Lewis to gather information about the plants, animals, and peoples of the region.

Lewis jumped at the chance and selected old friend William Clark to join him as co-commander of the expedition.

Tragic End Lewis died on October 12, 1809, at an inn

near Nashville, Tennessee. He had been on his way to Washington,

D.C., at the time. Most historians believe he committed

suicide while a few have contended that he was murdered.

Despite his tragic end, Lewis helped change the face of the United States by exploring uncharted territory.

Conclusion In total, the expedition traveled roughly

8,000 miles by boat, on foot, and on horseback.

His work inspired many others to follow in his footsteps and created great interest in the region.

Lewis also advanced scientific knowledge. Through his careful work numerous

discoveries of previously unknown plants and animals were made.

Sources http://www.history.com/topics/lewis-and-clark https://

www.archives.gov/education/lessons/lewis-clark

http://www.edgate.com/lewisandclark/expedition.html

http://lewisclark.net/ http://

www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark https://

www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/lewis-and-clark-expedition

Questions 1. How did your topic fit into the daily life of America in the era that you are

covering? My topic fit into the daily life of every American, because if it wasn’t for Lewis and Clark who knows how big the United States would really be. We also wouldn’t have the population out west like we do presently.

2. What was it about your topic that was unique to America and to our study of American history prior to 1877? Before 1877 no one other than Lewis and Clark had went on an expedition for three years out west like they did. It’s unique because most people would never have the courage and guts to do what these men did for America.

3. How would you have felt about your topic if you had been living during the era you are covering? I would just as strong about my topic or even stronger. The facts that they traveled from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back is something that will always be remembered as legendary and heroic.

4. How has your topic changed over the years (describe its’ role in society today). How the Lewis and Clark Expedition has changed over the years are the stories and details on what happened in those three years gone. Some people say Lewis killed himself while others say he was murdered.

5. What new information did you learn about your topic that you didn’t already know? New information that I learned was different stops throughout the west and the mountains. Also I learned about new interactions with different Indian tribes and creatures that Lewis and Clark faced through their journey.