MEETMEET THE AAUTHORUTHOR R. Conrad SteinStein

R.R. Conrad Stein knew from the ttimeime he was twelve yyearsears old tthathat he wanted to be a writer. AAfterfter serving as a Marine, he studied history at the UUniversityniversity ooff Illinois. A fewfew yyearsears after he graduated,graduated, his backbackgroundground in historhistoryy helped him getget assignmentsassignments writiwritingng history books fforor young readers. He has published more than eighty books; many TARGET SKILLSKILL ooff them are biobiographiesgraphies or are ffocusedocused on

MainMain IIdeasdeas andand DDetailsetails historhistory.y. Stein believes his jjobob is to express Determine the main ideas ooff the tthehe ddramarama ooff hihistoricalstorical eevents.vents. text. FindFind ddetailsetails tthathat support ththee mmainain iideas.deas.

GENREGENRE

NarrativeNarrative nonfictionnonfiction tellstells aboutabout peoppeople,le, events, or pplaceslaces that are real. As yyouou read, look fofor:r: factuafactuall ininformationformation thatthat tetellslls a sstorytory ffeatureseatures such as photophotographsgraphs and captions eeventsvents in ttimeime oorderrder

RI.5.2RI.5.2 determine two or more main ideas and explain how theythey are supported byby details/ summarize; RI.5.3RI.5.3 explain the relationships between individuals/events/ideas/concepts in a text;text; RRI.5.10I.5.10 read and comprehend informational texttext

Go 752752 Digital by R. Conrad Stein

ESSENTIAL QUESTION How did explorersexplorers helphelp America become the country it is today?

753753 In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the United States after completing an agreement with France callecalledd the Louisiana Purchase. He had acquired the vast Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River. Jefferson decided to form an expedition through the unexplored Territory to the Pacific Ocean. HHee asked to lead a group called the Corps of DDiscovery.iscovery. Lewis chose to help him as co-leader. In 1804, Lewis anandd CClarklark bbeganegan ttheirheir journey ffromrom St. Louis, MMissouri.issouri. TTheyhey travetraveledled tthroughhrough tthehe Great PPlainslains anandd tthenhen stostoppedpped fforor the winter season. A trader and his wiwife,fe, a Native American namednamed SacaSacagaweagawea ((saksak uhuh juhjuh WEEWEE uh),uh), joinedjoined thethe expeditionexpedition whenwhen it resumedresumed its journeyjourney in AprilApril 1805.

LewisLewis consiconsidereddered thethe MandanMandan (MANMAN duhn) Indians’ stories aboutabout huge bears to be fancifulfanciful talestales until one ofof the explorersexplorers waswas cchasedhased byby a grizzlygrizzly bear.bear.

754 TheThe Great Falls ofof the Missouri River were a beautifulbeautiful sight, butbut also were difficultdifficult to travel around.

WilliamWilliam CClarklark hhadad perhapsperhaps thethe FFallsalls of the Missouri River in present-present- best eyesighteyesight of ananyy crew member. ddayay . Here tthehe river tumtumbledbled On May 26, he saw the outline of a ddownown a bluff that was as hihighgh as a greatgreat mountain rangerange to tthehe west. In mmodernodern six-story bbuilding.uilding. TThehe roar the next few days,days, all of the explorers ooff the water was deafenindeafening.g. Lewis couldcould see tthehe snow-coveresnow-coveredd RockyRocky ccalledalled it, “the ggrandestrandest sisightght I ever Mountains on tthehe hhorizon.orizon. TThehe sightsight bbeheld.”eheld.” But the waterfallwaterfall meant that was inspiringinspiring as wewellll as troutroubling.bling. TThehe ththee exexplorersplorers hadhad to carrcarryy theirtheir boatsboats explorers knew that theythey would havehave aandnd supplies up steep cliffs before thetheyy to ffindind a way to cross the incredible ccouldould set out aagaingain on quieter waters barrier.barrier. uupstream.pstream. Traveling around the fallsfalls Before theythey could cross the Rockies, ttookook the party twenty-four days, and the Corps of DiscoverDiscoveryy faced the Great llefteft evereveryoneyone exhausted.exhausted.

755 SacagaweaSacagawea quicklyquickly provedproved to be a valuable asset to the expedition.expedition.

Carrying hherer bbabyaby boyboy on SSoonoon tthehe mmembersembers ooff tthehe herher back, SacagaweaSacagawea won the partpartyy began to wonder whywhy theythey aadmirationdmiration ooff tthehe crew. SheShe hhadad not yet seen any ShoshoneShoshone carecarefullyfully scannedscanned thethe riverbankriverbank to ((shohshoh SHOHSHOH nee)nee) or other American finfindd edibleedible rrootsoots aandnd frfruit.uit. TheseThese Indians. TheTheyy had seen signs ofof foodsfoods proviprovidedded a welcomewelcome reliefrelief IndianIndian settlement—hunters’settlement—hunters’ traitrailsls fromfrom tthehe customary ddietiet ooff meat anandd aabandonedbandoned campsites—campsites—butbut andand wwater.ater. AndAnd inin thethe mountainmountain since they left the Mandan and country, the Missouri River became Hidatsa ((heehee DAHT suh) villages,villages, a crookedcrooked stream thatthat splitsplit into the Corps of Discovery had not manymany small tributariestributaries. SacaSacagaweagawea encounteredencountered any otherother peoplepeople at aall.ll. pointed out landmarks that she

remembered from a journey as ANALYZEANALYZE THTHEE TETEXTXT a slave child, and she helpedhelped the Explain Historical EventsEvents What does captains cchoosehoose thethe correct river ththee auauthorthor ddoo to mmakeake hihistoricalstorical eeventsvents easy to understand? How does this help branchesbranches on which to travel. you see relationships between the events and people described in the texttext??

756756 InIn mid-August,mid-August, MeriwetherMeriwether withwith their powerfulpowerful neighbors,neighbors, Lewis, hikinghiking ahead of the partyparty thethe Blackfeet. TheyThey had neveneverr with a fewfew other explorers, came seenseen white people, but constant upon three women and warfarewarfare made the Shoshone several children. Lewis had carried suspicioussuspicious ooff all outsiders. Lewis anan American flag in his pack for just hopedhoped to buy horses from the such a meeting. tribe.tribe. Now that the rivers had HeHe wavedwaved thethe bannerbanner anandd wawalkedlked allall but disappeared, he needed slowly toward the group. One ofof the horseshorses to cross the peaks ofof the children fled. The women sat very RockyRocky Mountains. But the chief,chief, still as if frozen with fear. Lewis CameahwaitCameahwait (kuh(kuh mee uuhh wayt),wayt), expexplainedlained thatthat hehe was an expexplorer,lorer, wouldwould not part with anyany of the andand thethe womenwomen lleded him ttoo ththeireir animals.animals. Lewis did persuade vivillage.llage. CameahwaitCameahwait to send a few Shoshone TheThe SShoshonehoshone were a smallsmall tribetribe toto find Clark and the rest of the partyparty who were almost alwaysalways at war andand bringbring tthemhem to thethe vivillage.llage.

AtAt first,first, the Shoshone were cautious ofof Lewis and Clark, but the explorers soon realized that they were ffortunateortunate to encounter the IndiansIndians..

7577557 TheThe next morning, Clark and the others The expeditionexpedition crossed the Rockies arrivedarrived at the village, and a meeting was onon foot,foot, usingusing the horses to carrycarry theirtheir equipment and supplies. hheldeld with Chief Cameahwait. prepreparedpared to serve as the translator. When the meetingmeeting began,began, SacagaweaSacagawea stared iintentlyntently at the chief.chief. Then she broke into teartearss of joy. Lewis wrote, “She jumped up, rran,an, anandd emembracedbraced hhim,im, anandd tthrewhrew herher bblanketlanket over him, and cried proprofusely.”fusely.” SacaSacagaweagawea recorecognizedgnized Cameahwait as herher bbrother,rother, whomwhom sheshe hadhad not seen in six years.years. CheCheersers and laughterlaughter rose from the villavillage.ge. TheThe ShoshoneSShoshone hhailedailed Sacagawea as a lostlost ddaughteraugghter wwhoho hhadad come hhome.ome. OnOn SeSeptemberptember 1, 1805, the CorpsCorps ofof DiscoveryDiscovery leftleft the Shoshone territorterritory.y. ChiefChief CameahwaitCameahwait not onlyonly providedprovided thethe partyparty wwithith horses,horses, hehe alsoalso gave themthem a guideguide to sshowhow themthem thethe bbestest route throughthrough thethe momountains.untains. Crossing the Rockies proved to bebe a difficultdifficult ordeal. The trails were tootoo rruggedugged to rideride on, so tthehe partyparty walkedwalked andand useusedd tthehe horseshorses as ppackack animaanimals.ls.

ANALYZE THE TEXT PrimaryPrimary Sources The author uses a primary source, a direct quote from Lewis’s writinwriting,g, in the first paraparagraph.graph. What can yyouou conclude about Lewis from his words?

758758 Upon reachingreaching thethe ClearwaterClearwater River Valley,Valley, thethe expeditionexpedition builtbuilt new canoes to continue theirtheir journey weswestt.

In mid-September,mid-September, a blinding ClearwaterClearwater River in present-daypresent-day ssnowstormnowstorm struck.struck. EvenEven the .Idaho. TheThe waterswaters werewere so clearclear SShoshonehoshone guiguidede got lost.lost. Worst ofof all,all, thatthat thethe riverriver bottombottom andand schoolsschools ofof the once-abundant wild game could fishfish werewere visiblevisible despitedespite thethe river’sriver’s not be found on the hihighgh mountain depth. In the Clearwater country,country, ppeaks.eaks. TheThe explorersexplorers were forcedforced to LewisLewis andand ClarkClark abandonedabandoned theirtheir kkillill some ofof theirtheir packpack animalsanimals forfor packpack horseshorses andand builtbuilt new canoes. meat. The explorers’ journals report They reasoned that the streams on that the men laulaughedghed out loud when thisthis sideside ofof thethe RockiesRockies wouldwould allall theythey finallyfinally crossedcrossed thethe mountains eventuallyeventually flowflow into thethe ColumbiaColumbia anandd reachedreached grasslandsgrasslands on levellevel River,River, thethe major river ofof thethe PacificPacific terrain.terrain. Northwest.Northwest. American Indians called The Lewis and Clark expeditionexpedition thethe ColumbiaColumbia RiverRiver thethe Ouragon oror emergeemergedd ffromrom thethe RocRockyky Mountains OriganOrigan. TheThe landland aroundaround itit waswas laterlater into the lovellovelyy valleyvalley of the calledcalled the Oregon Territory.Territory.

759759 TravelingTraveling the rivers, the voyagersvoyagers down the Columbia River. TheyThey met thethe Nez Perce (nez(nez purs)purs) made a camp near an Indian villagevillage Indians, who taught them valuable and spent a restless night.night. On the techniques for building and sailing morningmorning of November 7, 1805, the log canoes. Less friendly were the rain stoppedstopped and the fogfog cleared. Chinook (shih(shih nook),nook), who drove hard A chorus of shouts suddenlysuddenly went bargains when trading for goods. But up from the camp. William Clark encountering thethe ChinookChinook meant thatthat scribbled in his notes,notes, “Ocean in view! the PacificPacific Ocean was not farfar away. O! thethe joy.” On thethe horizon,horizon, stillstill many One of the Chinook wore a black navy miles to the west, lay the great Pacific coat that he may have bought from a Ocean. UponUpon seeingseeing thethe ocean, some NorthNorth American or EuropeanEuropean sailor.sailor. of the explorersexplorers wept,wept, and others said A dismal rain peltedpelted the travelers prayersprayers of thanksgiving.thanksgiving. in earlyearly NovemberNovember as theythey sailedsailed

The explorers experienced some difficultydifficulty in dealing with the ChinooChinookk Indians, but their encounter broughtbrought signssigns that the PacificPacific Ocean was near.

760760 The explorersexplorers saw the PacificPacific Ocean forfor the firstfirst time near present-daypresent-day Astoria, OregonOregon..

But arrivinarrivingg at the Pacific Ocean mountainmountain countrcountry.y. WWhenhen tthehe crew did nnotot eendnd ththee LLewisewis and CClarklark reachedreached tthehe ManMandandan vivillage,llage, ttheyhey expedition. The partpartyy still had to saidsaid ggood-byeood-bye to SacaSacagaweagawea and her returnreturn hhomeome ttoo SSt.t. LLouis.ouis. PPresidentresident husbandhusband aandnd ccontinuedontinued bbackack ttoo SSt.t. Jefferson had pprovidedrovided Meriwether Louis.Louis. LewisLewis with a lletteretter ooff ccreditredit OnOn SeSeptemberptember 23, 1806, the Lewis guaranteeingguaranteeing papaymentyment to ananyy sshiphip andand Clark expedition arrived sasafelyfely captaincaptain wwhoho wouwouldld tatakeke tthehe exexplorersplorers back in St. LouisLouis,, MissouriMissouri,, where their to the eastern coast. The partpartyy made journeyjourney hhadad bbegunegun more tthanhan two a winter camcampp at the mouth of the yearsyears earearlier.lier. TThehe travetravelerslers hhadad ggoneone ColumbiaColumbia River near present-present-dayday a distance of jjustust less than 4,000 miles Astoria, OreOregon,gon, and kept a watch (6,400(6,400 kmkm)) from St. Louis to the mouth for ships.ships. No vessels were spotted.spotted. ofof ththee CoColumbialumbia RivRiverer and baback.ck. BuButt FinaFinally,lly, on MarchMarch 23, 1806, thethe crew thethe twisting rivers anandd mountain traitrailsls broke camp and bebegangan the lonlongg ttrekrek meantmeant that the Corps of DiscoverDiscoveryy easteast ttowardoward SSt.t. LLouis.ouis. hadhad actuallactuallyy covered about 8,000 miles ToTo the exexplorers,plorers, the six-month (13,000 km) on the historhistory-makingy-making returnreturn jjourneyourney seemed to be easier trip.trip. ThrouThroughoutghout the explorers’ than their ffirstirst jjourneyourney because thetheyy travels,travels, thetheyy encountered more thathann knewknew what to expect in the river and fiftyfifty American-Indian tribes.

761761 The journals kept by Captains Lewis, Clark, and several members of their expedition have been compiled into many publishedpublished accounts since the journey ended in 1806.1806.

762762 TheThe expedition returned with The world will findfind that those numerous samples of plant and travelers have well earned its favor.”favor.” animal life that had never before been To Meriwether Lewis and WilliamWilliam seen by American scientists. BeforeBefore Clark, the mission itself was their the expedition, President JeffersonJefferson greatestgreatest reward.reward. TravelingTraveling throughthrough hadhad hopedhoped thatthat thethe explorersexplorers wouldwould virtuallyvirtually unexploredunexplored landslands was an findfind a broad river that ships could use exhilaratingexhilarating experience that theythey to sail directldirectlyy to the Pacific Ocean. would cherish forfor the rest ofof their Lewis and Clark failedfailed to ffindind such lives. Although they faced many a river, and the expeditionexpedition was final dangers,dangers, the thrill—not the peril—ofperil—of prooprooff that an inland waterway in the expeditionexpedition bursts from the pagespages NorthNorth America diddid not exist. of the journalsjournals theythey kept.kept. As Lewis From St. LouisLouis,, Lewis and Clark wrote the dayday he left the Indian villagevillage traveledtraveled to Washington,Washington, D.C. AlmostAlmost to enter thethe Western wilderness,wilderness, “I every town theythey passedpassed throughthrough could but esteem this moment of mymy broughtbrought out bands to welcome themthem departuredeparture as among thethe most happyhappy as heroes.heroes. In Washington,Washington, D.C., ofof mymy life.” tthehe explorersexplorers delighteddelighted PresidentPresident ANALYZEANALYZE THE TEXT Jefferson with tales of ggrizzlyrizzly bearsbears Main Ideas and Details What is the main andand highhigh mountain passes. TheThe idea of the text on this page? What is the presidentpresident said,said, “Lewis andand CClarklark havehave selection's overall main idea? IdentifyIdentify the kekeyy details that supportsupport it. entirelentirelyy fulfilled mymy expectations….

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