Judith St. George - What Was the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

To Chance. Happy traveling wherever you go, with love and best wishes from your grandmother JudithJSG

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Text copyright 2014 by Judith St. George. Illustrations copyright 2014 by Penguin Group (USA) LLC. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC. Printed in the USA.

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ISBN 978-0-698-18723-8

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What Was the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

In history books the names of two men, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, are always linked. Their names could almost be one word: LewisandClark. They had much in common. They were both from Virginia. Both served in the US Army in the late 1700s, where they became friends. Both men were intelligent and brave. Born leaders, they were experienced woodsmen who could survive in the wild. But their names are linked because together they were cocaptains of a famous journey across the North American wilderness. They headed up a two-year-long trip all the way from the Midwest to the Pacific Oceanand back again. Their journey became known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

In 1801, when Thomas Jefferson became the third president, the country was made up of seventeen states. The country went only as far west as the Mississippi River. In 1803 the United States paid France fifteen million dollars for a huge parcel of western land828,000 square miles. The sale, which was called the Louisiana Purchase, more than doubled the size of the United States! In time, many states would be carved out of the landArkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraskaas well as parts of other statesMinnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Louisiana.

President Jefferson believed that the future of America lay in the West. Now that so much new land belonged to the United States, he wanted to have it explored. He hoped to find a waterway across North America to the Pacific Ocean. He wanted to learn all about the western Indian tribes and their way of life. Controlling the rich western fur trade was another of Jeffersons goals.

So what did Jefferson do? He planned for a party of explorers to take a river trip across North America. Nobody knew what they would find.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia. At twenty-six, after his father died, he inherited a large estate and built a house called Monticello on it. Jefferson, who owned some two hundred slaves, lived at Monticello for most of his life, except for the years he spent in Paris and his eight years in the White House. At twenty-eight, he married Martha Wayles Skelton. They lived happily together until her death ten years later. Although Martha had given birth to six children, only two daughters lived to adulthood.

As a member of the Second Continental Congress, Jefferson wrote a document that is revered and respected to this daythe Declaration of Independence. After the thirteen colonies became the United States of America, Jefferson served as secretary of state under his Virginia neighbor, Americas first president, George Washington. In 1796, he became vice president under the second president, his old friend John Adams. Four years later he was elected as the third president of the United States, serving two terms, from 1801 to 1809. One of his foremost achievements was the Louisiana Purchase. Thomas Jefferson died on the same day as John Adams. That day was July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

CHAPTER 1
The Cocaptains

President Jefferson didnt waste any time organizing the trip west. In 1803, he chose his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to command what was called the Journey of Discovery. The explorers going with Lewis would be called the Corps of Discovery. Lewis asked a good friend from his army days, William Clark, to be his cocommander. Clarks reply was an enthusiastic yes.

The two mens personalities were very different. Lewis was better educated. He tended to be moody, thoughtful, and a worrier. Lewis was not a scientist, but he prepared for the trip by reading many of the books in Thomas Jeffersons library. Jefferson had Lewis study mathematics, surveying, mapmaking, fossils, anatomy, natural history, astronomy, botany, medicine, and anything else that would be helpful on the journey.

The redheaded Clark was more a man of action. He had a temper, but he was also friendly, likable, optimistic, and practical. In almost every encounter, he got along well with the Native Americans. When the Indians needed medical attention or wanted advice, they would almost always ask for the redheaded one.

Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia. The Lewises and the Jeffersons were good friends. Jefferson knew Meriwether from the time of Meriwethers birth on August 18, 1774.

After serving in the Army, Lewis became President Thomas Jeffersons secretary. He was honored when the president picked him to lead the Corps of Discovery. Lewis always said the highlight of his life was his trip through the wild Northwest.

In October 1809, on his way to Washington, Lewis stopped at an inn in Natchez, Tennessee. He was found, shot dead, the next morning. It is not known whether he had committed suicide or was murdered.

William Clark

William Clark was born on August 1, 1770, in central Virginia. However, the Clarks soon moved to Louisville, Kentucky. William, who enlisted in the Army in 1789, joined a regiment to protect Kentucky settlements from Indian attacks.

In 1803, when the offer from Lewis came to colead the expedition, Clark replied: My friend, I join you with hand and heart. The government awarded Clark 1,600 acres and $1,228 in back pay for his two years service with the Corps of Discovery. He was named governor of the Missouri Territory in 1813.