Lewis_and_Clark.jpg

Lewis and Clark

Privacy Level: Public (Green)
Date: 1803 to 1806
Location: [unknown]
Profile managers: Ronald Prentice private message [send private message] and Westward Ho Project WikiTree private message [send private message]
This page has been accessed 3,425 times.
Westward Ho Project logo
... ... ... was involved in the westward expansion of the USA. Westward Ho!
Join: Lewis and Clark Expedition Project
Discuss: lewis_and_clark

Contents

Introduction

In 1803, the U. S. Senate, under the guidance of President Thomas Jefferson, purchased the Louisiana territory from France. Not knowing what lay beyond in the vast west and hoping to discover a northwest passage that would connect the Mississippi River with the Pacific Ocean, Jefferson initiated an exploration.

Expedition Route

On Oct. 26, 1803, the Corps of Discovery expedition set out from the Falls of the Ohio, traveling west. This was a military mission consisting of two officers, several sergeants and eventually about twenty-five privates ranging in age from eighteen to thirty-four. The first recruits were know as "the nine young men from Kentucky" and others who joined were from Virginia, Pennsylvania or New England. All were skilled woodsmen, with expert hunters, gunsmiths, scouts and boatmen among them. Along the way, they enlisted civilians who included an interpreter who was part-Shawnee, two other men who were part-Omaha, and most notably a teenaged Shoshone girl named Sacajawea, along with her baby boy, accompanying her French-Canadian husband.

By the time the Corps returned on Sep. 23, 1806, they had traveled over eight thousand miles, mapping most of them along the way. Jefferson's northwest passage may not have been found, as none existed, but they did find the source of the Missouri River, crossed the Continental Divide and reached the Pacific Ocean. Peaceful contact with at least fifteen different Native American tribes was made, and they discovered and described 178 plants and 122 animals previously unknown. Only one expedition member died, and that was from a probable ruptured appendix.

Commonly termed The Lewis and Clark Expedition, the participants of the Corps of Discovery were the first to cross the continent on behalf of the United States. For more than half a century afterward, pioneers who followed could only walk in those intrepid footsteps.

Corps of Discovery Roster

Those who journeyed from Fort Mandan to Fort Clatsop and returned, except as noted:

Clark (Left) & Lewis (Right)
*Not part of the Permanent Party. Most were with the April 1805 Return Party from Ft. Mandan, except for John Robertson who left the Corps June 1804.

Attached Civilians

Others associated with the expedition but were not part of the journey:

Nine Young Men From Kentucky

The earliest core members of the expedition party were the so-called "nine young men from Kentucky" who were the first recruits for the permanent party. Most of these men had personal, military, and/or family connections with each other and with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who trusted them for this mission. The assembly included seven men conditionally approved by Clark and two more by Lewis.

Clark was an excellent judge of men. He had gathered seven of "the best young woodsmen & Hunters in this part of the Countrey" these were the men awaiting Lewis's approval before being accepted. They included Charles Floyd*, Nathaniel Pryor*, William Bratton, Reubin Field*, Joseph Field*, George Gibson, and John Shields.
~ Stephen Ambrose

The two men selected by Lewis, John Colter and George Shannon, rounded out the company. When these nine men were sworn into the army, in the presence of General George Rogers Clark (1752-1818), the Corps of Discovery was born.

The "nine" are forever associated with Kentucky in the history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. After interviewing Clark about the expedition, Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844), author/editor of the official expedition history published in 1814, noted that nine of the men were “robust young American citizens from the neighborhood of Louisville.” Clark identified these first recruits as being from Kentucky (although not all of them actually were), and thus in Biddle’s history and those that followed it, they entered the annals of this American epic as the “Nine Young Men from Kentucky.” Lewis and Clark in Kentucky

* These family groups represented within the "nine": Charles Floyd and Nathaniel Pryor were first cousins, and Reubin Field and Joseph Field were brothers.

Resources

Online Resources

Journals and Maps

"...records indicate that seven of the enlisted men kept journals of the expedition. Although neither of the captains made an official list, the names of five eventually became apparent: Ordway, Floyd, Gass, Whitehouse, and Frazer." ~ Morris, The Fate of the Corps
Note: Pryor and Hall are possibly the authors of the other two journals.
Journals
  • University of Nebraska (Lincoln): Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition The site features the full text of the journals, and the index enables a user to search the journals using modern spellings of names and to be able to locate all instances of the word.
Maps

General Interest

Media and Film

  • Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
  • National Geographic - Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West, Documentary ($Netflix)
  • The Song of Sacajawea, Told by Laura Dern with Music by David Lindley ($Amazon)

Museums, Parks and Memorials

U.S. Government Documents

WikiTree References

  • The Literary Magazine, and American Register (T. and G. Palmer, Philadelphia, 1804) Vol. 1, No. 1, Oct. 1, 1803
    • Page 63: "LOUISVILLE AUG 25. An expedition is expected to leave this place shortly, under the direction of Capt. William Clark and Mr. Lewis, (private secretary to the President) to proceed through the immense wilderness of Louisiana to the Western or Pacific ocean. The particular objects of this undertaking are at present matters of conjecture only; but we have good reason to believe, that our government intend to encourage settlements, and establish sea ports, on the coast of the Pacific ocean, which would not only facilitate our whaling and sealing voyages, but enable our enterprising merchants to carry on a more direct and rapid trade with China and the East Indies."

Offline Resources

Scholarly Works

Children's Resources

Educator Resources




Images: 9
William Clark by Peale
William Clark by Peale
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark Image 3
Lewis and Clark Image 3
view all
Collaboration


Comments: 6

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
Noland-165 Liz (Noland) Shifflett
Hi! Please change the category to Category: Lewis and Clark Expedition (deleting "Project").

Thanks!

posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett
J-276 Paula J
Image:Profile_Photo_s-268.jpg December 10, 2014
posted by Paula J

Categories: Lewis and Clark Expedition