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 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.
NnnLouisiana :)
Thomas Jefferson
they tried to find a passge to the pacific ocean
They found out what was west of the US.
The Louisiana purchase and the east coast.(Excluding Florida)
Thomas Jefferson was president at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. infact, he sent Lewis out to explore and Lewis chose Clark to come along. So, Thomas Jefferson had a huge influence on the expedition.
NnnLouisiana :)
the lewis and clark expedition in 1804-1806
Thomas jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark were the explorers of the Louisiana Territory and US Northwest from 1804 to 1806.
they tried to find a passge to the pacific ocean
Before the expedition, Meriwether Lewis served as a personal secretary and aide to President Thomas Jefferson, while William Clark was a US Army officer who had experience in cartography and leading expeditions.
Meriweather Lewis and William Clark led the expedition that explored the Louisiana Territory for the US government.
to find new land for the us government right after the revaluation.
Jefferson conceived and ordered the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase. Additionally, Jefferson wished to validate US territorial claims, as purchased from France, over prospective claims by Spain.
Today, we see Lewis and Clark's impact. It is everywhere, from the farming in Nebraska to the roads in Colorado! Lewis and Clark kept journals, so we have those to tell us what it was like in the days of Lewis and Clark. Lewis and Clark told what it was really like here, [in the Midwest] so then the east knew what here [the Midwest] was like. That made it possible that people settle here! :)