The Lewis and Clark ExpeditionThe Corps of Discovery

Cause of the expedition

• In 1801, rumors are spread that Spain was selling Louisiana to France.• The rumors turn out to be true and Jefferson, the president at the time, sends a dispatch to France in hopes of buying New Orleans.• Napoleon Bonaparte needed funding for a war, so he agreed and offered them all of Louisiana for practically the same price as America was offering for one city.• Robert R. Livingston, the man negotiating for America, agrees.

PREPARATION• Jefferson sent a confidential message to Congress requesting $2,500• The actual cost of the journey was estimated to be around $40,000 dollars• They bought compasses, quadrants, telescopes, and chronometers to make maps• Another important part of the trip was camping supplies which included cloth, hatchets, fishing gear, lead, and gunpowder.• They also bought food and trinkets for the Native Americans

Meriwether Lewis•He was interested in natural history from a young age• He joined the Virginia militia and helped put down The Whiskey Rebellion• He joined the Freemasons in 1797• He was appointed as Jefferson’s personal aide• Between 1801-1803 he studied science at the University of Pennsylvania• In the winter of 1803 he went with 28 other men from the group to train in Illinois

William Clark•His brother was George Rogers Clark•He joined the Kentucky militia when he was 19• He served with Lewis• He studied astronomy and mapmaking

The Expedition

• Lewis and eleven others set off from Pennsylvania on August 30, 1803, to meet up with the other members in St. Louis.• They set out to begin their expedition from St. Charles in May 1804.• During the final week of August, they reached the Great Plains.• They met an Indian women who helped them along the way, Sacagawea.• In the winter of 1805, they camped in Oregon, and in March of 1806, they headed back.• They split into two groups at the Continental Divide and both had Indian problems.•They returned to St. Louis on Sept. 3 1806.

The continental divide is the hydrological divide that separates the rivers that empty into the Pacific and those that empty into the Atlantic

The results• Lewis and Clark’s expedition found over 200 new species of plants and animals.• The also discovered 72 Native American tribes.• The peace medals allied the United States with the Native Americans.

200th Anniversary mosaic of the Lewis and Clark expedition

Fireworks at the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition

The Lewis and Clark ExpeditionThe Corps of Discovery