Corps Of Discovery Essay

789 Words2 Pages

Our inquisitive America, extensively interested in science, geography, history, and art, had an enormous discovery sitting in its backyard. The Corps of Discovery – installed with dangerous travel, difficult interactions, and golden opportunities – was America’s greatest expedition, led by the famous Meriwether Lewis and his chosen partner, William Clark.
The northwest region of the United States had yet to be explored by the
American government in 1803. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of United States of America, had made The Louisiana Purchase for $15,000,000 dollars on April 30, 1803. The purchase included over 827,000 square miles of French land west of the Mississippi River. “A large part of Jefferson’s motive was purely disinterested in scientific curiosity. His perpetually active and inquisitive mind had long been intensely interested in Indian tribes, plants, animals, fossils, aboriginal languages, and geography of the great mysterious area which, in that day, might well have been described as ‘darkest North America’” (Bakeless v). After the final purchase was made, Thomas Jefferson assembled a team of nearly fifty men, including Lewis and Clark. In May of 1804, the Corps of Discovery set out on a two year trip to embark on a once in a life exploration.
To take on the first harsh winter, a fort was built in present day Bismarck, North Dakota. “At this time Sacagawea, a Shoshone women, joined the expedition as a guide and translator. In 1805, the group followed the Missouri westward to its headwaters and then crossed the Rocky Mountains and proceeded along the Salmon, Snake, and Columbia rivers to the Pacific Ocean” (Houghton 653). The Corps of Discovery had found what they were looking for on November 7, 1805, th...

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...was not as fortunate. Meriwether was born in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1774. “He was a captain in the army and served in a number of campaigns against Native Americans before becoming (1801) secretary to his friend President Jefferson” (Meriwether 1). After the famous expedition was accomplished, The Louisiana Territory needed a governor – Lewis being perfect for the job.
Lewis and Clark wrote the story book of the Northwestern United States. The vast land was an empty wasted space until the exploration. Their descriptions of geography and wildlife gave America its historic civilization head start. Everything documented made western expansion easier to travel. Overcoming the obstacles of Native American danger, unknown climates, and the perfection of observations made the Corps of Discovery the greatest exploration inside the boundary lines of North America.

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