Lewis and Clark Expedition Thomas Jefferson once said “ The work we are doing is, I trust, done for posterity, in such a way that they need not repeat it. We shall delineate with correctness the great arteries of this great country; those who came after us will fill up the canvas we begin” In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased the louisiana territory from France. The urge to explore the new lands and find new waterways overcome Jefferson and in 1804 the trip began. “This was a huge tract of over 800,000 square miles, taking in nearly the entire mid-section of North America from present-day Texas and Louisiana up to Montana and North Dakota. This almost doubled the size of the new country”. (Bredenberg 1) Thomas Jefferson's secretary Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were selected to lead the journey West. Lewis and Clark discovered new things while on their …show more content…
The Indians knew the land and Americans also had power over the Indians. Lewis and Clark needed the help of the Indians after discussing what The corps of discovery could do for the Indians they agreed to help. “The expedition held councils with Indians, in which the corps had military parades, handed out peace medals, flags, and gifts, delivered speeches, promised trade, and requested intertribal peace”. (Buckley 1) Lewis also took matter in his own hands by “purchasing a large stock of supplies, including guns and ammunition, food, clothing, navigational instruments, and large numbers of goods to be used as gifts and barter for Indians”. (Bredenberg 1) During the start of the expedition, the main groups of Indians the Corps of Discovery first worked with were “the Missouris, the Omahas, the Yankton Sioux, the Teton Sioux (Lakota), and the Arikaras”. (Bredenberg 1) With the use of gifts these different tribes of Indians helped the start of the expedition. When winter started the expedition met an important figure in the success of the