Louis and Clark Expedition
Jefferson had no information on this territory except tales of trappers.
He wanted the area to be explored.
His secretary was the head of this exploration, Meriwether Lewis.
Lewis seriously thought of exploring the Far West when he was 18 years old.
He had chosen a man known as red headed William Clark, younger brother of George Rogers Clark, a hero of the revolution.
They were completely unalike.
Lewis and Clark though they shared some military experiences on the frontier. Lewis was shy and awkward.
Clark was a wilderness man and a born leader who understood both the woods and men. Jefferson drew up their instructions: to cross the mountain barriers, and reach the pacific.
He wanted everything located and noted even kinds of firs.
The President wanted to know about the Indians and their way of life.
To challenge the British fur trade, he wanted every blank space filled in on the map.
The expedition started on May 14, 1804.
The explorers took with them mirrors certain rings and knives, they even took a fiddle which the Indians they later met said they enjoyed.
All these things was used for trade.
Twenty three young, frontiersmen went along on this expedition.
Clark’s slave York went along even Lewis’s dog Shannon went along. It took the men to travel five months to travel about 1000miles from St. Louis to their winter camp.
They were in Mandan Indian country.
There they found a French Canadian guide named Charbonneau and his wife, a 17 year old Indian girl named Sacagawea.
She helped the explorers Lewis and Clark through the Louisiana territory.