In 1803 Thomas Jefferson chose Meirwether Lewis to go on an important expedition. He was chosen to explore the western land acquired in the recent Louisiana purchase. He was also given the challenge of finding a Northwest passage. Lewis agreed and chose his good friend, William Clark, as second in command to accompany him.

On May 14, 1804 after much preparation,

Lewis and Clark and nearly four dozen other men left St. Louis, Missouri on their expedition. They traveled westward on the Missouri river on a fifty-five foot long keel boat to explore and find a Northwest passage. Two weeks after the crew left they passed La Charette, the last white village on the Missouri river. They were officialy in the wilderness now.

There were many things to be done during this time. Lewis spent a lot of his time studying rock formations, plants, soil and animals. Meanwhile, Clark spent his time charting the course and making maps.

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On August 2, the crew had their first Indian encounter of the expedition. A party of Oto and Missouri Indians came to their camp. The first meeting went very well and both sides exchanged friendly gifts and greetings. Also, around this time Sergeant Charles Floyd fell ill and passed away. He was the first and only death of the expedition.

By the last week of August Lewis and Clark had reached the end of the Great Plains. It was rich in wildlife. They were also reaching Sioux territory. The crew first met the Yankton Sioux. They were a peaceful tribe. However, unlike the Yankton Sioux, the neighboring tribe, Teton Sioux, were not as friendly. They did not appreciate the gifts they were met with, and demanded a boat as the price of passing through their territory. The Indians began to pose a threat, so Lewis pulled our a sword, and Clark pulled his gun. Eventually the fighting stopped and the crew continued the journey.

As winter fell upon them, Lewis and Clark were determined to make it as far as they could before the Missouri river froze. They decided to spend the winter at the Mandan tribe's village. The crew built forts to last through the winter, and as protection from the Sioux. They also wrote a report about what they had seen so far. Unfortunately, they began to run low on food. They had to rely on brave men to find meat.

While with the Mandan's, the expedition members hired Toussaint Charbonneau as an interpeter. His wife and son, Sacagawea and Jean Baptise joined the men on the expedition. They were preparing to explore a territory no American had ever entered before.

Early April, the expedition entered grizzly country. The Indians had warned Lewis and Clark about these new creatures. However, they ignored the warnings. On April 29, the men saw two grizzly bears. They wounded one, but the other one charged at Lewis. Fortunately, everyone was safe.