Thomas Jefferson had dreamed of exploring the West for at least 20 years before he even became President. In 1783 he had even asked Clark's brother, George, to take on the challenge. The Louisiana Purchase would later alter the character of the planned expedition from an exploration of French territory to a first glimpse of lands that, in the view of many contemporaries, were essential to maintaining the agrarian, republican character of the nation.

The Louisiana Territory had been a land purchase transaction by the United States of America of 828,800 square miles of the French territory "Louisiane" in 1803. The U.S. paid 60 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), a total cost of $15,000,000 for the Louisiana Territory. After finally purchasing the Louisiana Territory, and two weeks before inauguration day Jefferson asked Lewis to go on the journey.

Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-06)

In January of 1803, Jefferson requested $2500 from Congress to pay for the costs of the trip. Thomas Jefferson then commissioned Capt. Meriwether Lewis (his presidential aide) to explore the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. This territory is what is now the northwest United States. Before Lewis met up with Clark, he began the expedition on August 30, 1803 in Pittsburgh PA. Lt. William Clark would offer to join Lewis on the expedition weeks later on October 13, 1803 at Camp Dubois (in present-day Indiana). They then named their team the "Corps of Volunteers for North Western Discovery." At the time, Lewis was 29 years old and Clark was 33. From there, they sailed down the Ohio River towards St. Louis.

The party of nearly 30 --including Lewis and Clark, three sergeants, 22 enlisted men, volunteers, interpreters, and Clark's slave -- departed St. Louis in May 1804 heading up the Missouri River. They would spend their first winter at Fort Mandan at the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota. It took about 3 weeks to build Fort Mandan, which they named for the local natives, and they settled in on Nov. 27, 1804. There, they acquired a guide and translator, the Shoshone woman Sacagawea. In spring 1805, they continued to the headwaters of the Missouri River, struggled across the Continental Divide, and headed west along the Salmon, Snake, and Columbia rivers to the Pacific. They returned to St. Louis the following year.

If you don't believe that the expedition really began in Pittsburgh instead of St. Louis, please refer to the Related Link, which will lead you to the first entry of the Lewis and Clark Journals.

After the expedition, the two would lead completely different lives. Lewis, a troubled individual, was not suited for the bureaucratic life and found himself deep amongst petty and jealous administrators. On the way to Washington to clear his name, he stopped at Fort Pickering at the Chickasaw Bluffs. Those there described him as mentally distressed. Three weeks later, he was found in his rooms with two gunshot wounds at a roadside inn at Grinder's Stand, Hohenwald, Tennessee. He died the next morning on October 11, 1809, of two gunshot wounds. Some say that they were self-inflicted, others say it was murder. Jefferson -- for as long as he'd known the man -- admitted that he had suffered from "hypochondriac afflictions."

Clark would serve as governor of the Missouri Territory and he continued to lead Native American affairs for 30 years, enjoying a high reputation as an authority on the West. Many hunters, adventurers and explorers would visit him in St. Louis for advice. He died at age 69 on September 1, 1838, while at the home of his son, Meriwhether Lewis Clark.

For more detailed information concerning this issue, click on the Related Links section below.

Thomas Jefferson had dreamed of exploring the West for at least 20 years before he even became President. In 1783 he had even asked William Clark's brother, George, to take on the challenge. The Louisiana Purchase would later alter the character of the planned expedition from an exploration of French territory to a first glimpse of lands that, in the view of many contemporaries, were essential to maintaining the agrarian, republican character of the nation.

The Louisiana Territory had been a land purchase transaction by the United States of America of 828,800 square miles of the French territory "Louisiane" in 1803. The U.S. paid 60 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), a total cost of $15,000,000 for the Louisiana Territory.

After finally purchasing the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson had requested $2500 from Congress to pay for the costs of the trip. However that money was used to provide for medicine, gifts for the Native Americans and camp equipment. Jefferson as well as those in the American Philosophical Society would provide minor donations of books, maps, and scientific equipment. To pay for supplies obtained from trading posts along the way Lewis and Clark used a government issued IOU. They also did a lot of bartering, especially with Native Americans.

The expedition's goal as stated by President Jefferson was "to explore the Missouri River, & such principal stream of it as, by its course & communication with the water of the Pacific ocean may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce." In addition, the expedition was to learn more about the Northwest's natural resources, inhabitants, and possibilities for settlement.

Lewis' and Clark's journals of the expedition describe the natural resources and native peoples of the West and contain information on many scientific matters. Over the two year journey, the expedition had made more discoveries of landscapes, rivers, native cultures, zoology, and botany of North America than any scientific expedition. Their results/contributions were many and lasting.

One of the most significant contributions of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was a better perception of the geography of the Northwest and the production of the first accurate maps of the area. During the journey, Lewis and Clark prepared approximately 140 maps. One important result of the Lewis and Clark expedition was that it enabled the United States to lay claim to the Oregon region. This claim helped make possible the great pioneer movement that settled the West in the mid-1800's.

A second achievement of the expedition was a better understanding of the country's natural resources. During the journey, the expedition documented over 122 species of animals and approximately 178 plants. The expedition even sent a caged prairie dog, which had never been seen before in the East, to President Jefferson as a gift.

Another achievement of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was that it established friendly relations with some of the Native American tribes. For the most part, encounters between the three dozen Indian tribes and the expedition were successful. They collected a variety of Indian goods and gathered information on Indian languages and culture.

Follow the related link to the actual documents from the National Archives.

Hadley's Quadrant

Mariner's Compass & 2 pole chain

Set of plotting instruments

Thermometers

Cheap portable microscope

Pocket compass

Brass scale (1ft in length)

Magnetic needles in small straight silver or brass cases opening on the side with hinges

Instrument for measuring made of tape with feet and inches marked on it

Hydrometers

Theodolite

Set of planespheres

Artificial Horizons

Patent log

Papers of ink powder

Metal pens of brass and silver

Set of small slates & pencils

Creyons [not in the sense that we know, and that's how they spell it]

Sealing wax one bundle

1 Miller's edition of Lineus in 2 Vol

Books, Maps, Charts, Blank Vocabularies, Writing paper

1 Pair large brass money scales with two sets of weights

15 Rifles

15 Powder Horns & pouches complete

15 Pairs of Bullet Moulds

15 d. of Wipers or Gun worms

15 Ball screws

24 Pipe Tomahawks

24 Large knives

Extra parts of locks & tools for repairing items

15 Gun slings

500 Best flints

200 lbs. Best rifle powder

400 lbs. Lead

15 3 pt. Blankets

15 Match Coats with Hoods & belts

15 Woolen Overalls

15 Rifle Frocks of waterproof Cloth if possible

30 Pairs of socks or half stockings

20 Fatigue frocks or hunting shirts

30 Shirts of strong linen

30 yds. Common flannel

6 Copper kettles (1 of 5 gallons, 1 of 3, 2 of 2, & 2 of 1)

35 Falling axes

4 Drawing knives, short & strong

2 Augers of the patent kind

1 Small permanent Vice

1 Hand vice

36 Gimblets assorted

24 Files

12 Chisels

10 Nails

2 Steel plate hand saws

2 Vials of Phosphorous

1 container of phosphorous made of allum & sugar

4 Groce fishing hooks assorted

12 Bunches of drum line

2 Foot adzes

12 Bunches of small cord

2 Pick axes

3 Coils of rope

2 Spades

12 Bunches of small fishing line assorted

1 lb. Turkey or Oil stone

1 Iron mill for grinding corn

20 yds. of oil linen for wrapping & securing articles

10 yds of thicker quality for covering and lining boxes

40 yds of strong cloth to form two half faced Tents or Shelters

4 Tin blowing trumpets

2 Hand or spiral sping Steelyards

20 yds strong Oznaburgs

24 Iron spoons

24 Pint tin cups (without handles)

30 Steels for striking or making fire

100 Flints

2 Frows

6 Saddlers large needles

6 Large awls

Mosquito curtains

2 Patent chamber lamps & wicks

15 Oil cloth bags for securing provision

1 Sea grass hammock

150 lbs. Portable soup

3 Bushels of allum or rock salt

Spices assorted

6 Kegs of 5 gallons each making 30 gallons of rectified spirits

6 Kegs bound with iron hoops

5 lbs. White Wampum

5 lbs. White glass beads mostly small

20 lbs. Red beads assorted

5 lbs. of Yellow or Orange beads assorted

30 Calico shirts

12 Pieces of East India muslin handkerchiefs sprtiped or check'd with brilliant colors

12 Red silk handkerchiefs

144 Small sheap looking glasses

100 Burning glasses

4 Vials of Phosphorous

288 Steels for striking fire

144 Small cheap scissors

20 Pair large scissors

12 Groce needles assorted. 1 to 8 Common points.

12 Groce assorted with points for sewing leather.

288 Common brass thimbles

10 lbs. Sewing thread assorted

24 Hanks sewing silk

8 lbs. Red lead

2 lbs. Vermillion

288 Knives small such as are generally used for the Indian trade, with fox'd blades & handles inlaid with brass

36 Large knives

36 Pipe tomahawks

12 lbs. Brass wire assorted

12 lbs. Iron wire, generally large

6 Belts of narrow ribbons colours assorted

50 lbs. Spun tobacco

20 Small falling axes to be obtained in Tennessee

40 Fish giggs such as the Indians use with a single barbed point - at Harper's Ferry

3 Groce fishing hooks assorted

3 Groce Mockerson awls assorted

50 lbs. Powder secured in a keg covered with oil cloth

24 Belts of worsted feiret or gartering colours brilliant and assorted

15 Sheets of copper cut into strips of an inch in wideth & a foot long

20 Sheets of tin

12 lbs. Strips of sheet iron 1 inch wide and 1 foot long

1 Piece of red cloth second quality

1 Nest of 8 or 9 small copper kettles

100 Block-tin rings cheap kind ornamented with colored glass or mock-stone

2 Groces of brass curtain rings & sufficiently large for the finger

1 Groce cast iron combs

24 Blankets

12 Arm bands silver

12 Wrist bands

36 Ear trinkets

6 Groce drops of silver

4 dozen rings for fingers

4 Groces broaches of silver

12 Small medals

1 Keeled boat light strong at least 60 feet in length her burthen equal to 8 tons

1 Iron frame of canoe 40 feet long

1 Large Wooden canoe

12 Spikes for setting poles

4 Boat hooks & points complete

2 Chains and pad-locks for confining the boat & canoes

52 Pirogues (open boats)

Square sail (also called a broad sail)

35 Oars

2 Horses

15 lbs. of Best powder's bark

10 lbs. Epsom or Glauber Salts

4 oz. Calomel

12 oz. Opium

1.5 oz. Tartar emetic

8 oz. Borax

4 oz. Powdered Ipecacuana

8 oz. Powder Jalap

8 oz. Powdered Rhubarb

6 Best lancets

2 oz. White vitriol

4 oz. Lacteaum Saturni

4 Pewter Penis syringes

1 Flour of Sulphur

3 Clyster pipes

4 oz. Turlingtons Balsam

2 lbs. Yellow Bascilium

2 Sticks of Symple Diachylon

1 lb. Blistering Ointments

2 lbs. Nitre

2 lbs. Coperas

Barton's Elements of Botany

Antoine Simon Le Page du Pratz's History of Louisiana

Richard Kirwan's Elements of Mineralogy

A Practical Introduction to Spherics and Nautical Astronomy

The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris

Afour-volume dictionary

Atwo-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

Before Lewis met up with Clark, he began the expedition on August 30, 1803 in Pittsburgh PA. Lt. William Clark would offer to join Lewis on the expedition weeks later on at Camp Dubois (in present-day Indiana). From there, they sailed down the Ohio River towards St. Louis.

And being that the expedition began in Pittsburgh, states they passed through would include: Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, then Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. So they traveled through 6 states before reaching Missouri, and then 9 more states after that.

If you don't believe me that the expedition began in Pittsburgh and NOT St. Louis, then follow the related link to the Louis and Clark Journals' first entry. As we all know, the common American history textbook likes to smudge the details.