Compare And Contrast Lewis And Clark

the Lewis & Clark expedition, or the Corps of Discovery, began in 1804 and was given permission by President Thomas Jefferson to venture into the newly purchased western territories of Louisiana. France sold the United States the entire territory of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. This enormous tract of land “doubled the size of the United States” empire and was sold to us for “less than three cents per acre” (First Americans, pp. 251). The expedition was headed by two men named Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Their goals included exploring, mapping, and documenting every aspect of discovery along the Missouri River all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Documenting the geography of lands, plants, wildlife, resources, and Native American tribes

He wanted the explorers to create these trade alliances because trade was an extremely important part of everyday life and a westward expansion into Louisiana territories would not be successful without trade partners. They began their expedition by taking off from St. Louis where they encountered the Sioux tribes as well as many other groups of Indians. To effectively establish trade alliances and partnerships, Lewis & Clark needed to communicate with the highest ranking and important chiefs within the tribes who had power. It was a difficult task in most encounters because tribes had many different sections of groups or bands within the tribe itself. For example, the Sioux tribes was divided into “three groups – the Tetons, Yanktons, and Yanktonais”, and within the Teton group there were “five other different bands of Indians” (First Americans, pp. 253). The constant fighting and division between the tribes made it difficult for Lewis & Clark to determine which chiefs and tribes were of most

Coincidentally, among the expedition was a Shoshone woman who we all know named Sacagawea. As well as the other important explorers in the group, Sacagawea was a vital guide and translator on the expedition. The reason she was so important was her ability to effectively communicate and translate with the Shoshone tribe. Also, the presence of a Native American woman among a group of unidentified white men was important in giving off a non-threatening approach to the various tribes. Without her, the expedition in this region may have not been as successful or at all. Lewis & Clark, with the help of Sacagawea and others, observed, documented, and learned a lot about the territory’s resources and landscape from the Shoshone and Nez Perce. The two host tribes provided the group with much needed horses to travel into Montana. Even though Lewis & Clark seemed to have made friends and mapped out the lands, not much progress had been made so far in establishing any real political and economic