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Into the Great Unknown to Explore the West and Learn About the Land Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Biography Try to imagine what it would be like to explore unfamiliar territory, traveling ahead without knowing what might be over the next mountain or river. Would you have the courage to set out on such a journey? Back in the early 1800s, two men did. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set off into the great unknown to explore the West and learn about the land. In doing so, they opened up the western part of the United States for future settlement and learned about the abundant natural resources contained in this land. What kind of men were they? Read on to learn the story of these two amazing men. Meriwether Lewis During his childhood, Meriwether Lewis lived on a plantation called Locust Hill. It was located in Virginia, near Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello. When Lewis was a young man, he joined the army. His intelligence and keen eye for detail won the approval of officers. As a result, Lewis moved up quickly through the army’s ranks. Then, in 1801, something What lies beyond those distant mountains? For the explorers Lewis and Clark, the only way to find out changed Lewis’s life was to journey across them. dramatically. President Thomas Jefferson honored the 27-year-old Lewis by asking him to be his personal secretary. Lewis moved from the world of the military into the world of politics, from fighting on the frontier to the relatively civilized world of Washington, DC. Things moved quickly for Lewis from that point on. President Jefferson was deeply interested in the exploration of the West. Jefferson wanted to learn if there was a water route to the Pacific. He also hoped to document the geography of the American interior and establish diplomatic relations between the United States and the Native American nations of the West. Jefferson sent a secret proposal to Congress asking for money to fund a western expedition. In 1803, Congress approved the huge Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson’s dream of learning about the West was suddenly within reach. These were exciting times! Meriwether Lewis soon found himself as part of an exciting adventure. President Jefferson needed just the right person to lead the mission. To his way of thinking, Meriwether Lewis was just that man. Lewis was smart. He had Discovery Education Techbook © Discovery Communications, LLC 1 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Biography military experience. He was a skilled frontiersman and in superb physical condition. Jefferson wasted no time in appointing Lewis commander of the expedition. This was an amazing opportunity! Lewis was full of enthusiasm for the idea. He quickly contacted an old friend from his army days, William Clark. Lewis hoped that Clark would accompany him on the expedition. There was no other man whom Lewis would rather have along on the trip. As it turned out, the feeling was mutual. Here is what Clark wrote in reply to Lewis’s invitation: “My friend I assure you no man lives with whome I would perfur to undertake Such a Trip &c as your self.” As you can probably tell from his letter, Clark wasn’t the best speller in the world! In fact, his creative spelling became quite famous later, Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809) when people read the journals Clark kept during the expedition. But a good speller wasn’t what Lewis needed. He needed a strong man and a quick thinker. He needed someone who knew how to survive in the woods and who was not afraid to face any danger. He needed William Clark, and no one else would do! In the meantime, Congress had agreed to fund the undertaking. Congress voted to give the men $2,500. This was enough to get started, but in the end, the expedition cost $38,000! Lewis and Clark began preparing for the journey. For his part, Lewis decided he needed to learn some things before he felt ready to leave. He went to Philadelphia and learned about plants, animals, the stars and planets, and medicine. Lewis next began outfitting and staffing the expedition. He recruited about three dozen men. Supplies included boats, medical supplies, clothing, weapons and ammunition, and instruments such as compasses, quadrants, and sextants. Lewis also needed things for camp, such as cloth for tents, hatchets, soap, and salt. He brought along a traveling library, which he used for reference along the trail. It included a dictionary as well as books on plants, minerals, and history. Packed along with the other supplies were gifts for the Native Americans that Lewis knew they would encounter along the way. These included pocket mirrors, sewing needles, scissors, ribbons, ivory combs, knives, brass kettles, Discovery Education Techbook © Discovery Communications, LLC 2 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Biography and beads. Last but not least, Lewis bought a Newfoundland dog for twenty dollars. The dog was named Seaman, and he became the first dog in recorded history to cross the North American continent. William Clark William Clark was also born on a plantation in Virginia. When he was 19 years old, he joined the militia. Clark spent the next seven years fighting border wars against Native Americans along the Ohio frontier and helping to establish forts along the Ohio River. He was also entrusted with a number of sensitive missions. Two of these missions included spying on the Spanish as they built forts along the Mississippi River. Clark gained valuable skills during his years in the military, including learning how to draw maps. William Clark (1770–1838) He left the army in 1796 and returned home. Soon after, Clark received the fateful letter from his old army friend, Meriwether Lewis. Clark expressed his eagerness to join the venture, and so it was decided. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark would lead an expedition to explore the American interior to the Pacific Northwest. There was just one minor problem: Clark was a lower rank in the army than Lewis. Lewis thought both men should be on equal footing for the mission, since both would share equally in its demands and hardships. In his invitation to Clark, Lewis promised that Clark’s rank would be exactly the same as his. To both men’s disappointment, however, the War Department refused to promote Clark. Undaunted, Lewis and Clark agreed to lead the expedition together, to staff it with able men, and to keep the difference in their ranks secret from those men. That is why Lewis and Clark called each other “captain” throughout the three years of the expedition. Nearly two hundred years later, President Bill Clinton promoted Clark from lieutenant to captain, finally granting him the military promotion he had so rightfully earned. Once the negotiations were settled, Clark began preparing for the trip. He recruited several men from Kentucky to go along, including an enslaved man named York. York had been with Clark since his boyhood. Clark spent time getting a boat ready for the trip that would be light enough to carry across land when necessary. Discovery Education Techbook © Discovery Communications, LLC 3 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Biography Corps of Discovery The Lewis and Clark expedition is called the Corps of Discovery. The Corps left St. Louis in May, 1804, and returned in September, 1806. The expedition covered 8,000 miles and took two years to complete. The two men were accompanied by more than forty others, and only one man died along the trail. The Corps of Discovery traveled up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and on to the Pacific Ocean in present-day Oregon. They covered ten to twenty miles each day. The men hunted and fished for their food and were generally well fed. They ate a buffalo, or two elk, or four deer per day. Roots, berries, and fish were also plentiful. Along the trail, the explorers faced many challenges and dangers, which they met with much bravery. Lewis himself overcame several life-threatening situations, including falling from a cliff, being poisoned, and being shot. The detailed journals of Lewis and Clark were immensely valuable to the new nation. In the end, the expedition identified 178 new plants and 122 new animals. Lewis and Clark named each geographic feature they encountered. Mountains, rivers, and other key features of the landscape were named after expedition members, loved ones, people they knew, and even the dog, Seaman. Lewis also kept accounts of the many different Native American tribes they met on their journey. He gathered specimens of plants, animals, and minerals to take back to Washington. Lewis represented the United States government to Native Americans. To each group the expedition encountered, he announced that the United States had purchased the vast Louisiana Territory from the French. This meant, he told them, that “You will be protected and sustained by your new father, the head chief of the United States.” By “head chief,” Lewis meant Thomas Jefferson, the president. For his part, William Clark was especially skilled at mapmaking and negotiating with Native Americans. His maps included information about local plants, animals, and minerals. Thanks to William Clark, later travelers to the West would not feel like they had been dropped from space onto an alien planet! In addition, the information he gathered about river systems and fur resources helped the fur trade to prosper in later years. The ties Clark forged with Native American groups helped smooth the expedition’s way through their lands, largely because Clark had an honest appreciation for their cultures. The fifteen- year-old Shoshone girl Sacagawea and her husband, who served as interpreters and guides on the journey, were closest to Clark.
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