That summer and fall the company of explorers paddled and pulled themselves upstream, northwest on the Missouri River to Fort Mandan, a trading post, where Corps of Discovery set up camp, wintered, and prepared for the journey to the Pacific.
When the spring of brought high water and favorable weather, the Lewis and Clark Expedition set out on the next leg of its journey. They traveled up the Missouri to present-day Three Forks, Montana, following the western-most tributary, the Jefferson River. This route delivered the explorers to the doorstep of the Shoshone tribe, who were skilled at traversing the great rock mountains with horses. Once over the Bitterroot Mountains, the Corps of Discovery shaped canoe-like vessels that transported them swiftly downriver to the mouth of the Columbia, where they wintered at Fort Clatsop, on the present-day Oregon side of the river.
With journals in hand, Lewis, Clark, and the other members of the Expedition returned to St. Louis by September to report their findings to Jefferson.
Along the way, they continued to trade what few goods they still had and set up diplomatic relations with Native American tribes. In France and Spain had signed a secret agreement that, among other things, transferred ownership of the colony of Louisiana from Spain to France, but allowed the Spanish government to exercise direct administration until such time as the French saw fit. As a result, by it seemed that an American expedition to the West might be over before it began. The event that transformed the expedition was the Louisiana Purchase, the massive land cession from France to the United States that doubled the size of the United States and, most importantly, terminated Spanish administration of the territory, removing the diplomatic impediment.
But American policymakers had serious concerns about their ignorance of the territory they had just acquired. As a result, the Lewis and Clark Expedition was now a vital matter of public policy. During the winter of —, Lewis and Clark recruited, trained, and supplied men at Camp Dubois, on the eastern banks of the Mississippi in what is now Illinois.
Following the official transfer of Upper Louisiana to the United States in March , the expedition formally departed on May 14 of that year. Lewis and Capt. While crossing a river, two expedition members in a canoe struck a tree that was protruding into the water.
The boat sank and three blankets were lost. Most of the men had only brought along a single blanket for the trip; thus, the loss of blankets was considered a great blow. Gass served as a sergeant in the Lewis and Clark Expedition and kept a personal journal during their travels. This edition of his journal was printed by Mathew Carey of Philadelphia.
The first edition of Gass's work, published in , did not include any illustrations. Gass may have created the drawings himself, or he may have consulted with another artist. This image was used as the frontispiece of the book. The page number shown on the upper right refers to the page in the text where the event is described.
Gass's journal was the first such account published about the expedition; in it, he coined the term "Corps of Discovery. Gass, who served as a sergeant in the expedition and kept a personal journal during their travels, wrote of this encounter, "Captain Lewis and Captain Clarke held a council with the Indians, who appeared well pleased with the change of government, and what had been done for them. Six of them were made chiefs, three Otos and three Missouris.
This edition of Gass's journal was printed by Mathew Carey of Philadelphia. The first edition, published in , did not include any illustrations.
The men are portrayed building a winter encampment near the Mandan Indian villages in present-day North Dakota. Gass served as a sergeant in the expedition and kept a personal journal during their travels. One of the expedition members, scouting ahead for a place to camp for the night, was attacked by a bear.
When his gun misfired, William Clark and a few other explorers, who were atop a bluff about yards away, took aim at the bears and drove them away. Gass served as a sergeant during the expedition and kept a personal journal during their travels. The first edition published in did not include any illustrations.
This depicts an event that took place on July 15, An expedition member, alone in the wilderness, encountered a white bear and was thrown by his horse. The man stunned the bear by hitting him with his gun—breaking the gun in the process—and then clambered up a tree.
The man remained there for three hours while the bear stood vigil below. When the animal finally wandered off, the man headed back to camp. Gass, who served as a sergeant in expedition and kept a personal journal during their travels, wrote: "These bears are very numerous in this part of the country and very dangerous, as they will attack a man every opportunity.
This edition of the journal was printed by Mathew Carey of Philadelphia. This engraving depicts an event that took place on July 27, While exploring an area north of the Missouri River, expedition commander Meriwether Lewis traded with a party of Indians who attempted to steal the group's rifles and horses the following morning.
A skirmish ensued, and Lewis shot one of the Indians. Clark, an experienced river navigator, usually remained aboard one of the vessels. In November the expedition constructed a winter encampment near the Mandan Indian villages.
Lewis and Clark used this opportunity to cull out members of the expedition, selecting the most reliable, hardy, and talented men to continue and sending the rest back to Saint Louis with numerous plant and animal samples, as well as a lengthy report to Jefferson.
This was a diverse cohort. Anglo-Americans like Lewis and Clark dominated the members of the U. Army on the expedition, but they were barely a majority of the total expedition. In February Sacajawea had given birth to a son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, but quickly recovered from childbirth and managed to care for the infant even as the expedition got under way.
After meeting Sacagawea and her husband, the Corps traveled west from North Dakota, 15 to 20 miles a day on foot and by boat, toward the mountains. Day after day, the exhausted, freezing team braved rough rivers and perilous peaks, getting by on very little food.
After a long winter waiting out the bad weather, the Corps was able to start making their way back east in March After returning Sacagawea and her husband to North Dakota, the remainder of the Corps arrived back in Missouri in late September, more than two years after they started their expedition. They also brought back stories—tales that made other Americans dream about heading west.
All rights reserved. Personality Quizzes. A bedraggled and harried Corps finally reached the stormy Pacific Ocean in November of They decided to make camp near present-day Astoria, Oregon , and started building Fort Clatsop on December 10 and moved in by Christmas. It was not an easy winter at Fort Clatsop. Everyone struggled to keep themselves and their supplies dry and fought an ongoing battle with tormenting fleas and other insects.
Almost everyone was weak and sick with stomach problems likely caused by bacterial infections , hunger or influenza-like symptoms. On March 23, , the Corps left Fort Clatsop for home. They retrieved their horses from the Nez Perce and waited until June for the snow to melt to cross the mountains into the Missouri River Basin.
The two groups planned to rendezvous where the Yellowstone and Missouri met in North Dakota. Department of the Interior. Two days later, at Marias River near present-day Cut Bank, Montana, Lewis and his group encountered eight Blackfeet warriors and were forced to kill two of them when they tried to steal weapons and horses.
The location of the clash became known as Two Medicine Fight Site. It was the only violent episode of the expedition, although soon after the Blackfeet fight, Lewis was accidentally shot in his buttocks during a hunting trip; the injury was painful and inconvenient but not fatal.
On August 12, Lewis and Clark and their crews reunited and dropped off Sacagawea and her family at the Mandan villages. They then headed down the Missouri River—with the currents moving in their favor this time—and arrived in St. Lewis and Clark returned to Washington , D. While they had failed to identify a coveted Northwest Passage water route across the continent, they had completed their mission of surveying the Louisiana Territory from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, and did so against tremendous odds with just one death and little violence.
The Corps had traveled more than 8, miles, produced invaluable maps and geographical information, identified at least animal specimens and botanical samples and initiated peaceful relations with dozens of Native American tribes.
Both Lewis and Clark received double pay and 1, acres of land for their efforts. Clark remained well-respected and lived a successful life. Lewis, however, was not an effective governor and drank too much.
He never married or had children and died in of two gunshot wounds, possibly self-inflicted. Building Fort Clatsop. Corps of Discovery. National Park Service: Gateway Arch. Expedition Timeline. Flagship: Keelboat, Barge or Boat?
Fort Clatsop Illnesses. Fort Mandan Winter.
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