The Lewis and Clark Expedition:
Mission Not So Impossible
On February 28, 1803 Congress agreed to fund $2,500 towards a small expedition into the new territory. (The actual cost was around $40,000 which translates to about 200 million in today’s money)
The goals of the Corps were simple:
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Make contact with the indigenous people
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Get a trade agreement from the indigenous people.
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Map the rivers and geographic features
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Document the indigenous plants and animals
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Reach the Pacific Ocean by an all-water route (known as the Northwest Passage)
To head the expedition Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark- the younger brother of George Rogers Clark, a revolutionary war hero and Jefferson's first choice. Both Lewis and Clark were army buddies who met while stationed in the Ohio Valley and acquaintances of the president.
Meriwether Lewis spent wasted no time meeting with professors and scientists to cram up on his knowledge of medicine, botany (plant identification), zoology (study of animals) astronomy, among other things. In 1804, Lewis and Clark met up in St. Louis, Missouri where they loaded their specially constructed 55 foot long keelboat (like a really big canoe that is good for navigating in shallow water) that would haul all the expedition's supplies, and 32 cans of soup and 21 bales of "Indian gifts".
President Jefferson gave specific instructions to the expedition to map the location and record the customs of the Indians living west of the Mississippi River. The group was to keep good personal relations with the Indians at all costs. Otherwise we'd be learning about the "Lost Expedition of Lewis and Clark".
William Clark (left) & Merriwether Lewis (right)
The Corp Sets Off
Setting Out: May 14, 1804
Total Crew in November 1803: 31
Total Crew in May 1804: 42 (French hired hands)
After spending the winter of 1804 camped out near what is today St. Louis, MO, the Corps of Discovery was ready to set out on May 14, 1804. As they made their way up the Missouri River they were greeted by townspeople (Americans and French) who came out to see the Corps off. On May 26th, the expedition passed the last white settlement and into the unknown.
The journey up the Missouri River was slow and dangerous. "The Big Muddy" as its nickname suggests is filled with sediment which hides an even bigger danger -upended trees and driftwood. In addition to renegade trees Clark wrote that:
"the party is much afflicted with boils, and several have the Deasentrary (dysentery)" and that the "Ticks and Musquiters are verry troublesome".
At a rate of about 10 miles a day the expedition made its way to the present-day site of Kansas City by mid June, 1804.
Along the way Lewis made careful notes of weather conditions, plants, and animals. Clark who was trained in cartography mapped the entire route.
In their journal they made observations about the "Countrey" which became "one continued Plain as fur as Can be seen"covered in "Grass 10 to 12 inches in hight".
Lewis and Clark had many great qualities but spelling probably was not one of them.
The Plains Indians
# of Tribes 26
Most Famous : Blackfeet, Sioux, Cheyenne
In June 1804, the Corp of Discovery met its first Indians- a small rag-tag group from the Missouri tribe who had just been nearly wiped out by smallpox and measles brought by white fur traders. Lewis and Clark passed out blankets, whiskey, and peace medals while trying to explain through rough sign language that the United States now owned the land that they had lived on for hundreds of years. Communication was choppy at best (try explaining the word 'President'' and 'United States' to people who didn't understand each other's language).
They would also get their first sighting of buffalo that roamed the plains in huge herds of 3,000 strong. They also reported new species such as Prairie Dogs (which Lewis called Barking Squirrels) coyotes, pronghorn antelopes, jackrabbits, mule deer, and badgers, and bear.
In September, near the site of present-day Pierre, South Dakota, the gang met up with the Teton Sioux (aka the Lakota). The Corps had been warned by another tribe downriver that the Teton would not be easily won over with gifts and promises of friendship. The Teton obtained their goods from British traders in Canada and were not impressed with the Americans. What the Teton wanted was tribute for crossing their section of the river, their toll was steep- one of the Corp's pirogue filled with supplies. A pirogue (pie-roag) was a small flat boat good for navigating marshlands. When the Corps refused to pay, things got tense. The Corps prepared for a fight. The Teton eventually backed down. Lewis and Clark stayed amongst the Teton for two days realizing that if they were going to open up Louisiana for American commerce they would have to win over the Teton.
Two days later the Corps set off without having to pay the toll but with an uneasy truce formed between the United States and the Teton. In his diary Lewis called them "the vilest miscreants of the savage race".
This picture of a Sioux Camp taken in the 1890s, likely looked similar to the one that the Lewis and Clark expedition encountered in 1804.
A Slave Named York
Further up the Missouri River in early October 1804, the Corps met the Arikara, a farming people who lived in fear of the Teton Sioux. The Corps formed an alliance against the Teton. The Arikara were most impressed, not with their guns and gifts but with Clark's slave, York. Most Indians had never seen a black person before and as luck would have it, the Arikara warriors painted their bodies black to signify bravery in battle.
York, who was over 6 feet tall and dark skinned, was seen as a powerful warrior by the Arikara. In fact, York would prove to be a valuable member of the expedition hunting, fishing, and trapping food for the Corps. Even though they had loaded up with supplies, most of their food came from what they hunted and gathered in the wild, or traded with the Indians. If the Corps was going to survive this journey two things were essential: the ability to hunt and the ability to maintain good relationships with the native people.
It's worth noting that after the Corp returned home to much celebration, York asked Clark for his freedom but his request was denied.
This statue honoring York stands in Belvedere/Riverfront Plaza in Louisville, Kentucky. It was created by Ed Hamilton and dedicated in October 2003.
Fort Mandan
Present Location:
12 miles from Washburn, ND
In late October 1804, Lewis and Clark made their way up the Missouri into what is today North Dakota. They were 1,600 miles from their starting point in Missouri. The Corps passed many abandoned villages- the people had been wiped out by a smallpox epidemic around the same time as the American Revolution. Here, they made contact with the Mandan. They decided to set up their winter camp- aptly named Fort Mandan.
During the winter of 1804-05 Lewis and Clark spent a lot of time visiting the Mandan. They described them as an agricultural people who lived in settled villages. They were largely peaceful and went to war to defend themselves against the Teton and Arikara. They were very much unlike the Teton who were war-like and lived in Buffalo hide teepees. However, all Plains people hunted buffalo. Before a successful hunt was carried out the hunters would participate in a ceremony called the Buffalo Dance that would ask for a successful hunt from the spirit of the animals to be hunted. During this ceremony men wore buffalo masks and singing and dancing went for days on end.
Their first winter on the Plains was difficult at best. Snow was deep and temperatures that dropped to -40°F were common.
York again was a source of awe for the Mandan who reportedly tried to rub his skin to prove that it was not war paint.
The Corp's mission with the Mandan and their neighbors the Hidatsa was a success. They had formed a good relationship with the United States and established trading ties.
Sacagawea
In April 1805, the Corp packed up, said goodbye to the Mandan and set off up the Missouri River into Montana. They sent the keelboat loaded with the diaries, drawings, animal and plant specimens to return to President Jefferson.
However, the Corp had a few new additions including 23 new laborers and a Frenchmen named Toussaint Charbonneau who was supposed to replace a member of the crew that had been fired for bad behavior. What Lewis and Clark had bargained for was a Frenchmen with foreign language skills. What they got was a lazy (or so the reports say) Frenchmen and his Indian wife who had just given birth (to Jean Baptiste) that winter. Again, as luck would have it, the woman turned out to have some skills of her own and Sacagawea (pronounced Sah-cah' gah-we-ah,) would become one of the most valuable members of the expedition.
Sacagawea belonged to the Shoshone tribe but had been kidnapped by a tribe called the Hidatsa-Mandan many years before. The Corp had learned that the Shoshone owned horses, which the Corp would need to cross the Bitterroot Mountains (part of the Rockies).
To make sure the deal went smoothly they hired the husband-wife (and baby) team because of their ability to speak both multiple languages. Through a chain of four interpreters the English of Lewis and Clark could be translated into Shoshone.
However, Sacagawea would prove more useful to the Corp than just translating. Her knowledge of the geography helped the Corp navigate through unknown territory. The Rocky Mountains were as far as any white man had ever been. She also collected roots and berries for food and medicine.
Lewis and Clark grew very fond of Sacagawea as she traveled with little Jean Baptiste on her back. Once when their pirogue capsized in the rough spot on the river, Sacagawea helped to save important papers in one hand while keeping holding of her baby in the other.
Sacagawea's most important contribution to the Corp was her family connections. In July 1805, the Corp had reached the Rocky Mountains (the homeland of the Shoshone). If the Corp had any hope of obtaining horses their first contact with the Shoshone people had to go over smoothly. Well, it didn't. The first encounter between Lewis and the Shoshone was tense (Clark and Sacagawea were off somewhere else). The problem was that the Shoshone didn't trust these strangers. However, like in a Hollywood movie, Sacagawea comes up the river right on cue. She instantly recognizes this group of Shoshone as the tribe she had been kidnapped from. A huge celebration was held and the Corp got their horses.
On to the Pacific
July 15, 1805-November 7, 1805
Lewis and Clark succeeded in their mission to secure horses for a very high price. The horses were used by the Indians for the Buffalo hunt and they did not want to give them up. However, the Corp agreed to give up something equally valuable in exchange- some of their rifles. Had it not been for Sacagawea, it is doubtful that they would have been able to have made the trade at all.
Abandoning their pirogues, they hid the supplies they couldn't carry in holes they dug and covered with sod; the Corp loaded up their horses and headed into the Bitteroot Mountains (Idaho). The Corp had to hustle to avoid winter. If they got stuck in the mountains they would probably not make it out.
Since leaving Missouri back in 1804, the Corp had learned to live off the land by hunting and gathering. The food they carried was stuff they couldn't get in the wilderness. However, in the mountains the Corp faced torrential rains, waterfalls; and to make a bad situation even worse, game was hard to find. At one desperate point, they turned to eating some of their colts.
Once they made it out of the mountains it was a race to the Pacific. The Corp made five canoes hollowed out from trees and set off toward the Columbia and Snake Rivers at the Washington-Idaho border. They traded bells and thimbles with the local Indians for dog meat. Things were tough but the Corp was determined to make it to the coast before winter set in.
The Corp made it to the Columbia River which they knew would take them to the ocean. The bad news, winter is the rainy season in the Pacific Northwest. It rained so much that their buckskinned clothes almost rotted off their bodies.
On November 7th, 1805 the Corp sighted the Pacific Ocean, accomplishing their mission to map this unknown wilderness.
Why It Matters
The Lewis and Clark Expedition wasn’t just a long hike through uncharted territory—it was the ultimate road trip that shaped America’s future. When President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, he basically doubled the size of the United States overnight. But there was one big problem—no one really knew what was out there. Were there mountains taller than the Rockies? Rivers that led straight to the Pacific? Woolly mammoths still roaming around? Jefferson needed answers, so he sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to figure it out.
Their journey across the continent from 1804 to 1806 proved the land wasn’t just wilderness—it was full of resources, trade routes, and thriving Native American cultures. Along the way, they built relationships with tribes, mapped new territory, and discovered over 300 new species of plants and animals. And let’s not forget Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who joined the team. She acted as a translator, guide, and all-around MVP, helping the group survive and negotiate with tribes.
But the expedition’s impact didn’t stop there. It gave Americans a glimpse of what “Manifest Destiny” could look like—spreading westward and turning a young nation into a continental power. It also raised tough questions about how the U.S. would interact with Native Americans, whose lands and ways of life were already being disrupted. Today, the expedition still symbolizes exploration and discovery, but it also reminds us to think critically about expansion, cultural exchange, and the consequences that come with pushing boundaries.
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