Lewis and Clark Expedition the Term Paper

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Congress, under orders from President Jefferson, made the decision to send up to twelve men to explore the land all the way to the West coast, and provided a budget of $2,500. The group was going to need to study every detail about the land, including the Native American tribes which already resided on the land. Additionally, the group would need to have a working knowledge of botany, geology, and wildlife, and record information about all of these things. In addition to Native Americans, it was expected that hunters from French-Canada and Britain were active in some Western areas, and the expedition would be expected to evaluate their influence in the areas. Finally, they would need to be able to accurately map out the terrain of the land. (Rick et al.)

The expedition would eventually be called the Corps of Discovery, and would have between thirty and forty members in total. Jefferson himself selected the leader for the group, a captain named Meriwether Lewis. Lewis was allowed to select his own partner, and chose William Clark. An interesting fact about Clark is that although he was known by the other members of the expedition, as well as by many history books, as a captain, he was in fact only a Lieutenant, apparently because of delays in Army paperwork. Also on the mission was York, who was the Black slave of Clark. Later on the journey, they would be joined by a Native American woman names Sacagawea, who was of the Shoshone/Hidasta tribe. Sergeant Charles Floyd is an important part of the group as well, for he was the only casualty on the entire trip, and his death was apparently caused by appendicitis, not by any great adventure. (Rick et al.)

The journey began on May 14, and departed from Camp Dubois. The Missouri River was followed West, and by the first winter they arrived at Fort Mandan where they spent the winter.

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This is where they met Sacagawea. After the winter, they traveled through was is now Kansas City, then Omaha. The Lewis and Clark expedition crossed the Rocky Mountains, and also traveled by the Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia Rivers. They reached the Pacific Ocean near where Portland is today in December, 1805. They built Fort Clatsop on the south side of the Columbia River to stay in for the winter, where they prepared food and supplies for the trip home. The trip home started in March of 1806, and they arrived home in September. (Rick et al.)

Many great achievements were made by the Lewis and Clark expedition. One of the major achievements, of course, that America learned a lot about the Western lands through the maps of rivers, mountains, and terrain that they brought back. They also discovered almost 400 new species of plants and animals. They opened the fur trade, opened relations with many Native American tribes, and strengthened the American claims on the territories of the West. Without Lewis and Clark, the Pioneers would not have had guides to some parts of the Oregon Trail. Finally, one of the greatest achievements made by the expedition was actually one of social importance. While on the trip, both the black slave and the Native American woman were allowed to vote along with the other members of the group.

Rick et al.)

Lewis and Clark are two of the best known names from the history books. The exciting journey across all of America as we know it today speaks to the adventurer in every American. Lewis and Clark not only got their own names into history, but also the names of York and Sacagawea, a black slave and an Indian woman respectively......

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