Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) was the first United States expedition to the Pacific Coast. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the expedition had several goals. Their objects were both scientific and commercial – to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and to discover how the region could be exploited economically. According to Jefferson himself, one goal was to find a "direct & practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce with Asia" (the Northwest Passage). Jefferson also placed special importance on declaring U.S. sovereignty over the Native American tribes along the Missouri River, and getting an accurate sense of the resources in the recently-completed Louisiana Purchase.
They were accompanied by a fifteen-year-old Shoshone Indian woman, Sacagawea, the wife of a French-Canadian fur trader. After crossing the Rocky Mountains, the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean in the area of present-day Oregon (which lay beyond the nation's new boundaries) in November 1805. They returned in 1806, bringing with them an immense amount of information about the region as well as numerous plant and animal specimens. Reports about geography, plant and animal life, and Indian cultures filled their daily journals. Although Lewis and Clark failed to find a commercial route to Asia, they demonstrated the possibility of overland travel to the Pacific coast. They found Native Americans in the trans-Mississippi West accustomed to dealing with European traders and already connected to global markets. The success of their journey helped to strengthen the idea that United States territory was destined to reach all the way to the Pacific. Although the expedition did make notable achievements in science, scientific research itself was not the main goal behind the mission.
References to Lewis and Clark "scarcely appeared" in history books even during the United States centennial in 1876 and the expedition was largely forgotten despite having had a significant impact on increasing American owned land.
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Exploration of the interior before Lewis and Clark
Before 1537 Cabeza de Vaca crossed central Texas or northern Mexico from the Gulf to northwest Mexico. In 1539-42 Hernando de Soto crossed much of the South from Georgia to Arkansas. In 1540-42 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado traveled from Arizona to eastern Kansas. Since these expeditions found nothing of value the Spaniards largely abandoned northward expansion. In 1608 the French founded Quebec and quickly spread through the Saint Lawrence basin. In 1682 René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle went down the Mississippi from the Great Lakes to the Gulf. The French then established a chain of posts along the Mississippi from New Orleans to the Great Lakes. In 1714 Etiene Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont ascended the Missouri as far as the mouth of the Cheyenne River in central South Dakota. In 1720 the Villasur expedition from Santa Fe was defeated by the Pawnee in eastern Nebraska. Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye opened the area west of lake Superior and in 1738 reached the Mandan villages on the upper Missouri in North Dakota. In 1743 two of his sons reached, probably, the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. From Hudson Bay, in 1690 Henry Kelsey reached Saskatchewan River, in 1754 Anthony Henday followed the Saskatchewan almost to the Rocky Mountains and in 1771 Samuel Hearne reached the Arctic coast at the Coppermine River. In 1789 Sir Alexander Mackenzie (explorer) followed the river named after him to the Arctic Ocean. In 1793 he ascended the Peace River, crossed the Rocky Mountains and reached the Pacific twelve years before Lewis and Clark. Provoked by Russian expansion down the Alaska coast Juan José Pérez Hernández explored the Pacific coast in 1774, followed by James Cook in 1778. This led to a British Sea Otter trade with China, the Nootka Crisis and Anglo-American claims on the Oregon country. In 1792 Robert Gray (sea captain) found the mouth of the Columbia River. Later in 1792 the Vancouver Expedition explored over 100 miles (160 km) up the Columbia, into the Columbia River Gorge. Lewis and Clark carried a copy of Vancouver's map of the lower Columbia. By 1800 the coast of the Pacific Northwest had been thoroughly explored by maritime fur traders. By the time Lewis and Clark arrived at the mouth of the Columbia, at least 14 maritime fur traders had already visited the river's mouth and estuary.
Thus Lewis and Clark had first to connect to lower Missouri to the Mandan country in North Dakota. Everything west from North Dakota to the Pacific was unknown, except that the Rocky Mountains existed, that the upper Missouri seemed to flow from that direction and that on the other side of the Rockies the large Columbia River entered the Pacific. We might also mention methods of travel. Coronado and De Soto travelled with large gangs of armed men. Hearne and the younger Vérendrye joined bands of roving Indians. La Salle and Mackenzie used professional voyageurs and Indian guides. Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific mostly under their own power.
Preparation
Jefferson had a long interest in western expansion, and in 1780s met John Ledyard who discussed a proposed trip to the Pacific Northwest. When he became President, he asked Congress to fund expedition through the Louisiana Purchase, and to head to the Pacific Ocean. He used a secret message to Congress to ask them to fund the trip.
Jefferson read Mackenzie's book about the trip in 1802, and this influenced his decision to send an expedition.
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery, and named U.S. Army Captain Meriwether Lewis its leader, who selected William Clark as his partner. Their goals were to explore the Louisiana Purchase, establish trade and U.S. sovereignty over the native peoples along the River Missouri. Jefferson also wanted to establish a U.S. claim of "Discovery" to the Pacific Northwest and Oregon territory by documenting an American presence there before Europeans could claim the land. According to some historians, Jefferson understood he would have a better claim of ownership to the Pacific Northwest if the team gathered scientific data on animals and plants.
The U.S. mint prepared special silver medals with a portrait of Jefferson and had a message of friendship and peace, called Indian Peace Medals or peace medals. The soldiers were to distribute them to the nations they met. These symbolized U.S. sovereignty over the indigenous inhabitants. The expedition also prepared advanced weapons to display their military firepower. Among these was an air rifle of about .44 caliber, powerful enough to kill a deer. Air rifles of the time were made in Europe by different guilds than firearms makers. They carried sufficient black powder and lead for their flintlock firearms, knives, blacksmithing supplies, and cartography equipment. They also carried flags, gift bundles, medicine and other items they would need for their journey. Much time went into ensuring a sufficient supply of these items.
Journey
There were 33 people, including 29 participants in training at the 1803–1804 Camp Dubois winter staging area in Illinois Territory, near present day Hartford, Illinois. They left on May 14, 1804, and met up with Lewis in Saint Charles, Missouri, a short time later; the corps followed the Missouri River westward. Soon they passed La Charrette, the last Euro-American settlement on the Missouri River. The expedition followed the Missouri through what is now Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. On August 20, 1804, Sergeant Charles Floyd died, apparently from acute appendicitis. He was buried at Floyd's Bluff, in what is now Sioux City, Iowa. During the final week of August, Lewis and Clark reached the edge of the Great Plains, a place abounding with elk, deer, bison, and beavers.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition established relations with two dozen indigenous nations. Without their help, the expedition would have starved to death or become hopelessly lost in the Rocky Mountains. The Americans and the Lakota nation (whom the Americans called Sioux or "Teton-wan Sioux") had problems when they met, and there was a concern the two sides might fight. One of their horses disappeared, and they believed the Sioux were responsible. Afterward, the two sides met and there was a disagreement, and the Sioux asked the men the stay or to give more gifts instead before being allowed to pass through their territory. They came close to fighting several times, and both sides finally backed down and the expedition continued on to Arikara territory. Clark wrote they were "warlike" and were the "vilest miscreants of the savage race."
In the winter of 1804–05, the party built Fort Mandan, near present-day Washburn, North Dakota.
One chief asked Lewis and Clark to provide a boat for passage through their national territory. As tensions increased, Lewis and Clark prepared to fight, but the two sides fell back in the end. The Americans quickly continued westward (upriver), and camped for the winter in the Mandan nation's territory. Here they met a French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau, and young Shoshone wife, Sacagawea who helped translate.
They followed the Missouri to its headwaters, and over the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass. In canoes, they descended the mountains by the Clearwater River, the Snake River, and the Columbia River, past Celilo Falls and past what is now Portland, Oregon at the meeting of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Lewis used William Robert Broughton's 1792 notes and maps to find the stratovolcano mountain for navigation.
The expedition faced its second bitter winter, and voted on whether to camp on the south side of the Columbia river (modern Astoria, Oregon), building Fort Clatsop. The Corps turned home on March 23, 1806, using canoes, and later by land. On July 3, after crossing the Continental Divide, the Corps split into two teams so Lewis could explore the Marias River. Lewis' group of four met some men from the Blackfeet nation. During the night, the Blackfeet tried to steal their weapons. In the struggle, the soldiers killed two Blackfeet men. Lewis, Drouillard, and the Field brothers, fled over 100 miles (160 km) in a day before they camped again. Meanwhile, Clark had entered the Crow tribe's territory. In the night, half of Clark's horses disappeared, but not a single Crow had been seen. Lewis and Clark stayed separated until they reached the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers on August 11, along with Clark's. While reuniting, one of Clark's hunters, Pierre Cruzatte, mistook Lewis for an elk and fired, injuring Lewis in the thigh. Once reunited, the Corps was able to return home quickly via the Missouri River. They reached St. Louis on September 23, 1806.
The Corps met their objective of reaching the Pacific, mapping and establishing their presence for a legal claim to the land. They established diplomatic relations and trade with at least two dozen indigenous nations. They did not find the Northwest Passage.
Geography, mapping, scientific data
The Lewis and Clark Expedition gained an understanding of the geography of the Northwest and produced the first accurate maps of the area. During the journey, Lewis and Clark drew about 140 maps. Stephen Ambrose says the expedition "filled in the main outlines" of the area. The expedition documented natural resources and plants that had been previously unknown to Euro-Americans, though not to the indigenous peoples. Lewis and Clark "were the first" Americans to describe "the place officially". Their visit to the Pacific Northwest, maps, and proclamations of sovereignty with medals and flags were legal steps needed to claim title to each indigenous nations' lands under the Doctrine of Discovery.
Lewis and Clark's expedition had no greater advocate and no greater beneficiary, than the American Philosophical Society (APS). Their duties, as assigned by Jefferson, were preeminently scientific. Specifically, they were instructed in geography, astronomy, ethnology, climatology, mineralogy, meteorology, botany, ornithology, and zoology. The expedition recorded more than 200 plants and animals that were new to science and noted at least 72 native tribes.
Jefferson had the expedition declare "sovereignty" and demonstrate their military strength to ensure native tribes would be subordinate to the US, as European colonizers did elsewhere. Upon the completion of the expedition the maps that were produced allowed the further discovery and settlement of this vast territory in the years that soon followed.[not in citation given]
In 1807 Patrick Gass published an account of the journey. Paul Allen edited a two-volume history of the Lewis and Clark expedition that was published in 1814, in Philadelphia, but without mention of the actual author, banker Nicholas Biddle. Even then, all of the report was not completely made public until more recently[when?]. The earliest authorized edition of the Lewis and Clark journals reside in the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library at the University of Montana.
Sacagawea
Sacagawea, sometimes called Sakajawea or Sakagawea (c. 1788 – December 20, 1812), was an indigenous woman who accompanied her husband Toussaint Charbonneau on the expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Her son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was born in 1805 with the help of the expedition.
Though she has been discussed in literature frequently, much of the information is exaggerated or fiction. Scholars say she did notice some geographical features, but "Sacagawea...was not the guide for the Expedition, she was important to them as an interpreter and in other ways." The sight of a woman and her infant son would have been a reassuring sight to some indigenous nations, and she played an important role in diplomatic relations by talking to chiefs, easing tensions, and giving the impression of a peaceful mission.
In his writings, Meriwether Lewis presented a somewhat negative view of her, though Clark had a higher regard for her, and later on provided some support for her children in subsequent years. In the journals, they used the terms "squar" and "savages" to refer to Sacagawea and other indigenous peoples.
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark. Their mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, establish trade and sovereignty over the natives near the Missouri River, and claim the Pacific Northwest and Oregon territory for the United States before European nations. They also collected scientific data, and information on indigenous nations. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him Governor of Upper Louisiana in 1806.
Biography
Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, in the present-day community of Ivy. He was the son of Lt. William Lewis of Locust Hill (1733 – November 17, 1779), who was of Welsh ancestry, and Lucy Meriwether (February 4, 1752 – September 8, 1837), daughter of Thomas Meriwether and Elizabeth Thornton. (Thornton was the daughter of Francis Thornton and Mary Taliaferro). He moved with his mother and stepfather Captain John Marks to Georgia in May of 1780. His older brother Nicholas Lewis became his guardian. They settled along the Broad River in the Goosepond Community within the Broad River Valley in Wilkes County (now Oglethorpe County).
During his time in Georgia, Lewis enhanced his skills as a hunter and outdoorsman. He would often venture out in the middle of the night in the dead of winter with only his dogs to go hunting. Even at an early age, he was interested in natural history, which would develop into a lifelong passion. His mother taught him how to gather wild herbs for medicinal purposes. In the Broad River Valley, Lewis first dealt with American Indians. This was the traditional territory of the Cherokee, who resented encroachment by the colonists. Lewis seems to have been a champion for them among his own people. While in Georgia, he met Eric Parker, who encouraged him to travel. At thirteen, Lewis was sent back to Virginia for education by private tutors. One was Parson Matthew Maury, an uncle of Matthew Fontaine Maury. In 1793, Lewis graduated from Liberty Hall (now Washington and Lee University).
That year he joined the Virginia militia, and in 1794 he was sent as part of a detachment involved in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion. In 1795 Lewis joined the U.S. Army, commissioned as a Lieutenant, where he served until 1801. Among his commanding officers was William Clark, who would later become his companion in the Corps of Discovery.
On April 1, 1801, Lewis was appointed as an aide by President Thomas Jefferson, whom he knew through Virginia society in Albemarle County. Lewis resided in the presidential mansion, and frequently conversed with various prominent figures in politics, the arts and other circles. Originally, he was to provide information on the politics of the United States Army, which had seen an influx of Federalist officers as a result of John Adams's "midnight appointments". When Jefferson began to plan for an expedition across the continent, he chose Lewis to lead the expedition.
Death
On September 3, 1809, Lewis set out for Washington D.C., where he hoped to resolve issues regarding the denied payment of drafts he had drawn against the War Department while serving as the first American governor of the Louisiana Territory. Some accounts say he carried his journals with him for delivery to his publisher. Lewis intended to travel to Washington by ship from New Orleans, but changed his plans while en route down the Mississippi from St. Louis. He decided to make an overland journey via the Natchez Trace and then east to Washington. The Natchez Trace was the old pioneer road between Natchez, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee. On October 10, 1809 Lewis stopped at an inn on the Natchez Trace called Grinder's Stand, about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Nashville. After leaving dinner, he went to his bedroom. In the predawn hours of October 11, the innkeeper heard gunshots. Servants found Lewis badly injured from multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. He died shortly after sunrise.
While modern historians generally accept his death as a suicide, there is some debate. Priscilla Grinder, the tavern-keeper's wife, claimed Lewis acted strangely the night before his death. She said that during dinner, Lewis stood and paced about the room talking to himself in the way one would speak to a lawyer. She observed his face to flush as if it had come on him in a fit. After he retired for the evening, she continued to hear him talking to himself. At some point in the night, she heard multiple gunshots, and what she believed was someone calling for help. She claimed to be able to see Lewis through the slit in the door crawling back to his room. She never explained why, at the time, she didn't investigate further concerning Lewis's condition or the source of the gunshots. The next morning, she sent for Lewis's servants. They found him wounded and bloody, with part of his skull gone, but he lived for several hours. Priscilla Grinder's testimony is held as a point of contention from both sides of the murder-suicide debate. The murder advocates point to five conflicting testimonies as evidence that hers is fabricated, and the suicide advocates point to her testimony as proof of suicide.
The only doctor to examine Lewis' body did so in 1848. He reported that Lewis appeared to have died "by the hand of an assassin". Lewis' descendants have retained the report.
When Clark and Jefferson were informed of Lewis' death, both accepted the conclusion of suicide. His mother and relatives contended it was murder. In later years, a court of inquiry explored whether they could charge the husband of the tavern-keeper with Lewis' death. They dropped the inquiry for lack of evidence or motive.
From 1993–2010, many of Lewis' kin (through his sister Jane, as he had no children) sought to have the body exhumed for forensic analysis, to try to determine whether the death was a suicide. A Tennessee coroner's jury in 1996 recommended exhumation. Since Lewis is buried in a national park, the National Park Service must approve; they refused the request in 1998, citing possible disturbance to the bodies of more than 100 pioneers buried nearby. In 2008 the Department of Interior approved the exhumation, but that decision was rescinded in 2010 upon policy review, and the Department has stated the last decision is final. It is making improvements to the grave site and visitor facility.
William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Missouri. Clark was a planter and slaveholder.
Along with Meriwether Lewis, Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803 to 1806 across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean, and claimed the Pacific Northwest for the United States. Before the expedition, he served in a militia and the United States Army. Afterward he served in a militia and as governor of the Missouri Territory. From 1822 until his death in 1838, he served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
Early life
William Clark was born in Caroline County, Virginia, on August 1, 1770, the ninth of ten children of John and Ann Rogers Clark. His parents were natives of King and Queen County, and were of English and possibly Scots ancestry. The Clarks were common planters in Virginia, owners of modest estates and a few slaves, and members of the Anglican Church.
Clark did not have any formal education; like many of his contemporaries, he was tutored at home. In later years, he was self-conscious about his convoluted grammar and inconsistent spelling—he spelled "Sioux" 27 different ways in his journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition—and sought to have his journals corrected before publication. The spelling of American English was not standardized in Clark's youth, and his vocabulary suggests that he was well read.
Clark's five older brothers fought in Virginia units during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), but William was too young. His oldest brother, Jonathan Clark, served as a colonel during the war, rising to the rank of general in the Virginia militia years afterward. His second-oldest brother, George Rogers Clark, rose to the rank of general, spending most of the war in Kentucky fighting against British-allied American Indians. After the war, the two oldest Clark brothers made arrangements for their parents and family to relocate to Kentucky.
William, his parents, his three sisters, and the Clark family's slaves arrived in Kentucky in March 1785, having first traveled overland to Redstone Landing in present-day Brownsville, Pennsylvania. They completed the journey down the Ohio River by flatboat. The Clark family settled at "Mulberry Hill", a plantation along Beargrass Creek near Louisville. This was William Clark's primary home until 1803. In Kentucky, his older brother George Rogers Clark taught William wilderness survival skills.
Marriage and family
After returning from his cross-country expedition, Clark married Julia Hancock on January 5, 1808, at Fincastle, Virginia. They had five children: Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr. (1809–1881), named after his friend and expedition partner; William Preston Clark (1811–1840); Mary Margaret Clark (1814–1821); George Rogers Hancock Clark (1816–1858), named after Clark's older brother; and John Julius Clark (1818–1831), named after his oldest brother Jonathan and Clark's wife.
After Julia's death in 1820, William Clark married her first cousin, Harriet Kennerly Radford. They had three children together: Jefferson Kearny Clark (1824–1900), named after the president; Edmund Clark (1826–1827); and Harriet Clark, named after her mother (dates unknown; died as child). His second wife Harriet died in 1831.
Clark died in St. Louis on September 1, 1838. He was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery, where a 35-foot (11 m) gray granite obelisk was erected to mark his grave. The cemetery has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
External links
- Full text of the Lewis and Clark journals online – edited by Gary E. Moulton, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Lewis and Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition
- National Council for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
- Lewis & Clark Bicentennial in Oregon
- Lewis and Clark, Mapping the West – Smithsonian Institution
- Lewis and Clark – National Geographic – a variety of resources, including an Interactive Journey Log
- Lewis and Clark – PBS
- Trip's Journal Entry – Search Engine
- Discovering Lewis and Clark
- Lewis and Clark by Air – A book with a perspective of L&C from the air
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail – United States National Park Service
- Lewis and Clark Expedition, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana
- C-SPAN American Writers, Lewis & Clark in three parts, RealVideo, 2001
- The Lewis & Clark Expedition: Documenting the Uncharted Northwest Name, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
- Lewis and Clark in Kentucky
- Lewis and Clark Expedition
- Journal kept by the Corps of Discovery
- Lewis & Clark – All-Star River Explorers (University of Illinois Extension)
- Interactive Google Map of Lewis and Clark's Expedition Zoom in on the actual locations Lewis and Clark explored as you digitally walk up the Missouri River. Each location is linked to a Lewis and Clark journal entry and can be viewed in terrain mode in order to envision it as Lewis and Clark saw it, or in satellite mode to see how much has changed or not changed.
License
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lewis and Clark Expedition".
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