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LEWIS & CLARK
Even
before the Purchase of Louisiana in 1803, President Thomas
Jefferson was planning a covert exploration of the American
interior from the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to the
Pacific Ocean. The Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803
added legitimacy to the project of exploring the deep interior
of the continent. Jefferson chose his personal secretary
and former Army officer, Merriweather Lewis, and former
Army Lieutenant, William Clark, to lead the expedition.
Lewis
and Clark, who were both using the rank of Captain for the
expedition, swore most of the men in the Corps of Discovery
into the Army. They traveled up the Missouri River by keelboat
loaded with supplies and gifts for the Native American tribes
along the way. The mission of Lewis and Clark included mapping
the area, ascertaining if a valid water route to Asia was
possible, establishing friendly relations with the tribes
in the area, and collecting scientific data concerning wildlife
in America's interior. The party, containing about 40 men,
left St. Louis on May 14, 1803. Included in the party was
York, a slave of William Clark.
The
Corps of Discovery headed up the Missouri River. On August
20, 1803, the expedition lost the only man to die on the
adventure. Sergeant Charles Floyd died of what today we
would identify as appendicitis. While there were no doctors
on the expedition, Lewis had had medical training for the
Corps of Discovery. However, Sergeant Floyd would have died
of appendicitis in 1803 even in the finest hospitals in
New York or Philadelphia.
One
of the major duties of Lewis and Clark was to meet with
the tribes and initiate American trade with them. They first
met with the Sioux tribes and encountered unfriendly resistance.
The Sioux dominated the lower Missouri and were not willing
to let trade go up or down the river without payment. After
coming close to a hostile encounter, the party escaped unhurt
up river to be welcomed by the other tribes who had lasting
animosities with the Sioux.
The
Corps of Discovery went up the Missouri River about 1600
miles. They made winter camp near present day Bismarck,
North Dakota. Here they built Fort Mandan near several Mandan
Indian Villages. Here they met a French Canadian trader,
Toussaint Charbonneau, and his Shoshone wife, Sacajawea.
Sacajawea was in the later stages of pregnancy, and Lewis
helped deliver the baby boy. Charbonneau and Sacajawea would
join the expedition as interpreters and guides, and the
presence of a woman and child helped convince the Indians
that the party was a peaceful party.
One
of the major members of the party was York. The Indians
had never seen a black man and often thought York had covered
himself with a black dye. Some villagers tried to wash him
and were amazed to find that the skin was actually colored
black. The Indians liked York and he was a major ambassador
on the journey. To the Indians he was “Big Medicine.” When
the Corps of Discovery arrived back at St. Louis in 1806,
Clark gave York his freedom. York went back out west to
live with the Indians and was never heard from again.
In
the spring of 1805 the Corps of Discovery left Fort Mandan
and the Mandan villages and headed for the Rocky Mountains.
Here Sacajawea was a major help to the expedition. She guided
the Corps of Discovery over the Rocky Mountains. The mountains
were much higher and wider than Pres. Jefferson and Lewis
and Clark expected. She eventually led the expedition to
the Shoshone Indians who provided the Corps of Discovery
with horses. The expedition finally crossed the Rocky Mountains
and found the Columbia River. They reached the Pacific Ocean
in early November 1805.
At
the site of present day Astoria, Washington, the corps built
Fort Clatsop. Here they traded with the tribes of the Pacific
North West, ate salmon, hunted, and prepared for the journey
back across the Rocky Mountains and down the Missouri River.
They
left Fort Clatsop in early spring 1806. The expedition split
up to explore the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. On the
return trip the expedition had a hostile encounter with
the Blackfeet Indians. The two parties linked up and returned
home passing more trade heading upriver.
The
Corps of Discovery returned to St. Louis on Sept. 23, 1806.
Both Lewis and Clark and many of the men in the expedition
kept diaries and journals of the journey. They delivered
very accurate maps and reports of the vast unknown area,
reported that there was no water route to Asia, and the
tremendous size of the Rocky Mts. They brought back information
about the Indians of the plains, in the mountains and on
the Pacific Coast. They also reported the discovery of 178
plants and 122 animals.
After
reporting their findings to Pres. Jefferson both leaders
continued to serve the public. William Clark became director
of Indian Affairs in 1807 and later served as Governor of
the Missouri Territory. He was married twice and had several
children. Merriweather Lewis was appointed Governor of the
Louisiana Territory. He died under suspicious circumstances
at a lonely inn on the Natchez Trace in 1807. Lewis may
have been robbed and murdered, or he may have committed
suicide.
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