One year after the United States doubled its territory with
the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition leaves St. Louis,
Missouri, on a mission to explore the Northwest from the Mississippi
River to the Pacific Ocean.
Even before the U.S. government concluded purchase negotiations with
France, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his private secretary
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, an army captain, to lead an
expedition into what is now the U.S. Northwest. On May 14, the "Corps of
Discovery"--featuring approximately 45 men (although only an
approximate 33 men would make the full journey)--left St. Louis for the
American interior.
The expedition traveled up the Missouri River in a 55-foot long
keelboat and two smaller boats. In November, Toussaint Charbonneau, a
French-Canadian fur trader accompanied by his young Native American wife
Sacagawea, joined the expedition as an interpreter. The group wintered
in present-day North Dakota before crossing into present-day Montana,
where they first saw the Rocky Mountains. On the other side of the
Continental Divide, they were met by Sacagawea's tribe, the Shoshone
Indians, who sold them horses for their journey down through the
Bitterroot Mountains. After passing through the dangerous rapids of the
Clearwater and Snake rivers in canoes, the explorers reached the calm of
the Columbia River, which led them to the sea. On November 8, 1805, the
expedition arrived at the Pacific Ocean, the first European explorers
to do so by an overland route from the east. After pausing there for the
winter, the explorers began their long journey back to St. Louis.
On September 23, 1806, after almost two and a half years, the
expedition returned to the city, bringing back a wealth of information
about the largely unexplored region, as well as valuable U.S. claims to
Oregon Territory.
Taken from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history [14.05.12]
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