He apparently applied himself as much to his formal education as he had to his natural upbringing, as he graduated at the age of nineteen. Much of this came to an end at the age of thirteen, when he was sent back to Virginia to get a proper education. He spent the next several years absorbing all that he could about nature and the great outdoors, becoming a skilled hunter and extremely knowledgeable. Meriwether Lewis was born in Virginia in 1774, but at the age of five his father passed away and he moved with his family to Georgia. Their responsibilities included not only charting out a new trade route, but also to gather as much information as they possibly could about the land, plants, animals, and indigenous peoples present.Ī tall task, to say the least.
They were tasked to lead a small band of men into the unknown and return to enlighten people in the already settled eastern states and territories to what possibilities lay in the West. Talk about uncharted territory.Įven so, two men - Meriwether Lewis and William Clark - were chosen based on their experience and, in the case of Lewis, their personal connection to President Thomas Jefferson. Imagine that - these men set out across the country before people knew that the Rockies existed.
There was sparse and undetailed information available regarding the enormous plains that lie ahead and no knowledge or expectation of the vast range of the Rocky Mountains even farther west. Louis in 1804 and returned in 1806, after having made contact with countless Native American tribes, documenting hundreds of plant and animal species, and mapping the way to the Pacific - although they found no water route that took them all the way there, as was their original intention.Īlthough the mission sounds straightforward, there were no detailed maps that could possibly help them in understanding the challenges they might face during such a task. It was commissioned by then-president, Thomas Jefferson, and was technically a military mission. What Lewis and Clark set out to do was find and chart out a water route that could connect the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. The Lewis and Clark Expedition in Context.Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny.How Did the Lewis and Clark Expedition Impact History?.Why Did the Lewis and Clark Expedition Happen?.The Expedition That May Have Never Been.The Lewis and Clark Expedition in Detail.What Was the Lewis and Clark Expedition?.Lewis died of a gunshot wound in 1809 under mysterious circumstances, while Clark went on to a long political career, including service as governor of the Missouri Territory, and died in 1838. Interest began in the 20th century, after the 1904 Lewis and Clark Exposition. The two leaders, though, would not receive immediate recognition for their journey. The more than 40 specially selected members of the Corps, soldiers and some civilians not only found a route to the West Coast, they brought back immensely valuable scientific data, established trade relations with Native American tribes, and helped America assert a territorial claim in the Pacific Northwest. The now-famous Lewis and Clark Expedition was conducted as the Corps of Discovery, a special unit of the United States Army. Charles Missouri on what would become a 28-month trek that would take them to the Pacific Ocean and back. Jefferson commissioned them to map the newly purchased territory and explore the western half of the continent. The first of these expeditions (and the most famous) would be the one led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. However, having bought the land, there was a need to see just what had been purchased for a huge sum of money. The price was $15 million – the equivalent of nearly $340 million today. When Thomas Jefferson managed to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, it accomplished a major goal of his: Control of New Orleans, and with it, the Mississippi River. This Week In History: The 1804 Lewis and Clark Expedition | Historynet Close
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