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The Start of it All

In 1803, President Jefferson chose his secretary, Meriwether Lewis

to command what was called the Journey of Discovery. Lewis

asked his good friend William Clark, to be his co-commander.

The two men had very different personalities. Lewis was better

educated. He was very thoughtful, moody, and a worrier. Lewis

was not a scientist but he prepared for the trip by reading many

of the books in the Thomas Jefferson's Library. 

Clark was more of a thoughtful man of action. He did have a temper,

but he was friendly, likable, optimistic, and practical. He got along 

with the Native Americans. When the Indians needed medical attention 

or wanted advice, they would always ask for Clark. 

The Journey Starts...

Jefferson wanted the journey to start as soon as possible. Most of the

 journey was done by water so they were provided with a fifty-five-foot barge. It 

had sails and twenty oars. It would carry the men and food and also

gifts for trading along the way. The men also traveled in canoes.

 The journey started upstream on the Missouri River from their St. Louis-area 

camp. Everyone was really excited to get going, especially Lewis. There were no 

maps to follow, so the man had to use surveying equipment, like a compass. The 

clothes on the trip would wear out very quickly. The men would have to make 

new clothing out of animal skins, so they also brought a gun to take with them. 

They made sure to take a lot of food with them. Tools of every kind were also 

brought. Medicine was also packed for the trip.

The two captains hardly ever fought. They made up a good team. 

With two such capable captains, it was not hard to recruit army 

men to join the Corps. Twenty-three 

sergeants signed up and three US Army sergeants signed

up as well. Clark's African American slave, came along, too. 

Lewis had his dog come as well. 

Jefferson made sure the two captains knew what they were doing. 

He made it so they kept careful records

and made maps of their travels. The co-captains were to 

send back reports and samples of their discoveries. 

Lewis and Clark had no clue what was going to happen next in 

their adventures. This made it mysterious and frightening.

Congress gave the voyagers $2,500 for their supplies and food. 

The men had a lot of fears. They were worried about the animals and 

Indians they would meet on the way. The crew went west into the 

mouth of the Missouri River.

A week later, Lewis caught up with them. Traveling on river was not an 

easy thing to do. The bugs and weather were terrible for the crew. 

There were times of fun and fellowship too. They would have parties 

for birthdays as they would come up.

Some men died along the way due to medical conditions.

The men met up with many friendly Indian tribes along the

 way.

Winter Time

Lewis and Clark made a lot of new friends and were able to trade

with the tribes.   By late November 1804, the crew had traveled

1600 miles. They still had 1000 miles to go to reach the Pacific

Ocean. The explorers built winter quarters and got off of the river.

The fort had two rows of log huts, a smoke house, a storage shed,

and a sentry box. They also had an 18 ft. high fence with sharp

pointed logs surrounding it. The fort was called Fort Mandan, in

honor of their neighbors. Their neighbors included both the Mandan 

Tribe and all the Minnetarees. 

The temperatures during the winter dropped to almost 40 degrees 

below zero. During the winter, two more people joined the Corps, 

Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife.

Sacagawea...

Sacagaewa was far form home like the men. She was the wife 

of Toussaint, who also helped the crew.   She helped the men 

by translating things and also helping with trade. She followed 

the men to get horses from Shoshones, because that was her 

home. 

Pushing Off...

On April 7, 1805 some of the men headed back down the Missouri River

to deliver cargo to President Jefferson and his scientists. On that same day

33 men boarded the red pirogue (boat) and got back on the river. 

Grizzly bears were a huge concern for the men. They kept heading west

until they reached the Yellowstone River. That would lead them to the

Columbia River, which from there would take them to the Pacific Ocean.

On June 10, 1805, Lewis and four other men went onto the Great Falls.

Six days later, Clark and the other men caught up with Lewis at the falls. 

It was an 18 mile hike and it took 11 days. 

Homecoming...

The end of July 1805, Sacagawea knew were they were. They kept going till

they arrived at Montana's Three Forks. By this time they had traveled 2,000 miles 

on the river. They spent a week traveling up the Jefferson River.

August 17, 1805, they found Sacagewea's tribe, the Shoshones. They began to 

construct a camp on the Beaverhead River. They traded many items with the tribe 

(metals, gun, trinkets). 

On August 30, 1805, they parted ways with Sacagwea, who stayed with the 

men on their expedition. Now the group had to make their way over the

Rocky Mountains. They faced many weather challenges such as blizzards.

Going across the Lolo Trail was one of the worst experiences. In mid

October, the Corps left the Clearwater River and headed down the Snake River. 

They were guided by Nez Perce chiefs.

From the Snake River they went into the Columbia River, this is the River 

that would take them all the way to the Pacific Ocean. After 55 miles, they 

set up a new camp. This camp was known as Camp Point Distress. 

On November 15, the members of the Corps, finally saw the Pacific Ocean. 

On December 7, 1805, the men started building a fort they could live in 

duing the winter.   They spent three months in Fort Clatsop. 

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