Lewis and Clark Expedition In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson managed to initiate the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which was also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, after the Purchase of Louisiana, which was considered one of his highlights during his political career, marking the first government-sponsored exploration. President Thomas appointed Meriwether Lewis, the private secretary of the president, to be the Commander of the Expedition. Lewis also asked his close friend William Clark, who Lewis had served with in the army, to help him with the expedition and he actually named Clark the co-commander of the expedition. Generally speaking, the expedition had a significant impact on American history. There were many goals and expectations for this expedition. First of all, the group aimed to find a route across the continent in order to reach the Pacific Ocean and also make a general map of western terrain. Secondly, they were …show more content…
They paddled down to the Ohio River and went upstream along the Missouri River, which made the journey exhausted. What was more, they faced many dangerous situations with wild animals, Native Americans, and tough environment. For example, Lewis and his crew once faced the danger of grizzlies. At first, Lewis was not worried about those grizzlies at all even though the Indians warned him. He believed that their guns could definitely make them safe. In fact, Lewis almost got killed by the bear chasing him until one of his men shot the bear to death. Besides encountered with different kinds of animals, including grizzly bears, buffalos, bighorn sheep and etc, Lewis and Clark also had the chance to study the botany on the new land. Actually, two of the botanical specimens, which were discovered by Lewis and Clark during their journey, were named after them. The white one is named Philadelphus lewisii, and the pink one is named Clarkia