Lewis and Clark Expediton
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Back in 1803 when Thomas Jefferson was President of America and two-thirds of the population were settled within 50 miles of Atlantic Ocean (1) the most surprising bargain in the history of America was made: The Louisiana Purchase in May 1803. Jefferson bought an area with vague boundaries but which more than doubled the current America for as little as $15 million (approximately 3.5 cent per acre) from France.(2)Finally, there was an opportunity to discover whether the Missouri River offered a direct "water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce" (3) and provided a opportunity to reach Oregon directly. But nobody had an idea how the west looked like.
Therefore, Jefferson dispatched a secret message to Congress requesting $ 2,500 for an expedition in order to search out a land route to the Pacific, to strengthen American claims to Oregon, to gather precise data about flora and fauna, information about the Native Americans and the country of the west.
Earlier, Jefferson had tried to send 3 expeditions with other leaders, for example Freeman and Custis but they had all failed. (4)
This time he asked his private secretary Meriwether Lewis (link) to lead the "Corps of Discovery",as they were occasionally called due to the fact that their aim was to explore, to scout, to survey and to map the land of the Louisiana Purchase.
Lewis prepared for the expedition by studying with competent scientists in Philadelphia. He had already achieved useful knowledge by studying botany at his mother's farm. Nevertheless, he felt in need for someone who had experience in Indian warfare and who was experienced in the construction of forts, so he invited William Clark (link), his former commander in the army to join him. Clark agreed to do it "for the benefit of our own country and of the world"(5)
They
started on August 31, 1803 and floated down the Ohio River to set out for
St. Louis where they trained a group of men for the upcoming task.(6) When
they started their tour in May 1804 they took a keelboat, two pirogue boats
and 29 healthy and strong men as well as 16 supernumeraries (7) to start
the exploration of the west. One of those men was Touissant Charbonneau,
a man who took one of his Indian wives, Sacajawea (link), with him. It
is said that she was one of the most important reasons the expedition survived.
Most of the Indian tribes did not think this a military expedition because
a woman and her child (who she gave birth to on February 11, 1804) accompanied
the group. She knew many secrets of the Indian culture, had knowledge about
their medicine and knew local plants and animals foreign to the Easterners.
While
traveling the captains and four other men kept diaries where they described
nature, the weather, the atmosphere on the boat or the results of their
hunting. On their hunting tours, very interesting animals were seen, for
example the channel catfish, the cutthroat trout, the prairie rattler and
more. Some of them were given names by the expedition itself: The Clark's
nutcracker to name one example. The group killed many animals while traveling,
which was easy because the animals did have little fear of humans. Mr Clark
was the first man to kill a ponghorn and a prairie wolf, whereas Mr Lewis
was the first man to kill a grizzly bear. (8)
In
those diaries the first official council between people from the United
States and the Indians inhabiting the north of present- day Omaha was documented
on August 3rd , 1804 The captains meet a group of Oto and Missouri Indians
and as a sign of friendship they handed out peace medals, with Jefferson
on one side and two clasping hands on the other; 15- star flags; flour;
roasted meat; pork and more. The meeting ceremony with Indian tribes became
a ritual, where the captains explained to the Indian chiefs that they now
belonged to the USA and that they would be taken care by the great father-
Thomas Jefferson. After handing over the presents, the Corps performed
a parade by marching in uniforms and shooting their guns.(9)
The
following quotations are from the journal of Mr Clark describing the meeting
with the Indians.
Made up a small present for those people in proportion to their consequence; also a package with a medal to accompany a speech for the grand chief. After breakfast, we collected those Indians under an awning of our mainsail. In presence of our party, paraded, and delivered a long speech to them, expressive of our journey, the wishes of our government, some advice to them, and directions how they were to conduct themselves. The principal chief for the nation being absent, we sent him the speech, flag, medal, and some clothes. After hearing what they had to say, delivered a medal of second grade to one for the Otos and one for the Missouris, and presented four medals of a third grade to the inferior chiefs-two for each tribe. (10)The speech, mentioned in the quotation is a report about the great father (the president Thomas Jefferson) who wants to meet with the Indians. It also consisted of good advises of the 'civilized' people from the East to the Indians. Most of the Indians agreed to meet the president in Washington in spring as the following quotation from the same source proves.
Those chiefs all delivered a speech, acknowledging their approbation to the speech and promising to pursue the advice and directions given them, that they were happy to find that they had fathers which might be depended onLewis, Clark and their companions met about 50 tribes during those years and discovered that the Indians had very different ways of living, different customs and appearances. The Tenton Sioux slept in tepees, hunted buffalo and guarded their territory in an aggressive way; the Mandans lived in earth lodges, farmed corn and were amenable towards trade with the Americans. Some tribes have never seen any Whites or Blacks before.(11) The mentioned Mandans met the expedition in the winter of 1804/05, and the Corps of Discovery decided to spend the cold season in the village of the Mandan Natives, a stockade in North Dakota. The ones who were responsible for keeping track of the diaries used the break to update journals, maps and to categorize the found fauna and flora.
When spring came, the explorers continued their journey to the mouth of Yellowstone River, to the Rocky Mountains and eventually arrived at the Three Forks of Missouri River, naming its three branches Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin in order to honor the administration. In their journey they followed the Jefferson, and in July 1805 the Indian woman Sacajawea recognized the territory of her origins- the Beaver's Head, Shoshone country. That was the moment the Indian woman proved again her value as a guide and interpreter. In August 1805 when the Corps of Discovery was captured by Shoshone Indians, she recognized her brother Cameahwait, who had become chief and whom she had not seen since childhood due to her captivity by Mandans. She not only convinced him of releasing the group but also received the horses they desperately needed to climb the Rocky Mountains. (12)
Lewis and Clark continued their journey and crossed the Continental Devide at Lemhi Pass. Then they went through the Lolo Pass to Bitterroot Mountains and followed the Clearwater River down to the Snake River, which is now called Lewis. After following the Columbia River, they spent the winter of 1805/06 at a fort on the Pacific coast, called Fort Clatsop. This is as far as they came and in spring they returned to the East across the continent. In March 1806 the group split and Lewis' people went to explore the Marias River. The rest of them joined Clark to scout from the Yellowstone River to the Missouri River. They reunite on August 12, 1806 on the mouth of Yellowstone and arrived at St. Louis on September 23, 1806.
The exploration with the loss of only one man by illness and a final cost of $39,000 "not only fulfilled Jefferson's scientific expectations, but also reaffirmed his faith in the future economic prosperity of the United States.(13) Its success is also measured by the ability to create a new era of mountain men, explorers, stagecoaches, pioneers and the transcontinental railroad.
Sources:1:
www.pbs.org/lewisandclark
accessed on 12/10/2000
2: Divine,Robert/ T.H.Bren/ George M. Frederickson/ R. Hal Williams/
Randy Roberts (1986). America. Past and Present.Scott, Foremann
and
Company: Glenview, Illinois etc.; p.125
3: Jefferson in Ibd.,p.126
4: Glen,Adams (1986[1804]). Account of Louisiana.Ye Galleon Press:
Washington etc.
5: www.bartleby.com/22571010.html
accessed on 12/16/2000
6: www.linecamp.com
accessed on 12/14/2000
7: www.bartleby.com/225/1010.html
accessed on 12/07/2000
8: Worster, Donald (1994). An unsettled country. Changing landscapes
of
the
American west. University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque
9: www.pbs.org/lewisand
clark/native/index.html
accessed on 12/10/2000
10: www.xmission.com
accessed on 12/16/2000
11: www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/native/index.html
accessed on 12/10/2000
12: www.bartleby.com/65/k/LewisNCl.html
accessed on 12/07/2000
13: Divine,Robert/ T.H.Bren/ George M. Frederickson/ R. Hal Williams/
Randy Roberts (1986). America. Past and Present.Scott, Foremann
and
Company: Glenview, Illinois etc.; p. 127
