Would you have the courage to leave your home friends and family to go off on an important mission? You would not know where you are going or who will be there, but in the case of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the reward was worth the risk. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were part of the Corps of Discovery which comprised a select group of US Army volunteers. This expedition was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson soon after the Louisiana Purchase. They explored and mapped what is now the Western part of the United States. The expedition took place in 1804 and lasted through 1806 and included details on what we know as the Pacific Northwest for the United States. They had to deal with wicked temperatures, horrible mosquitos, …show more content…
With maps, sketches and by keeping journals, they detailed all that they saw to document for the United States Government on their new territories. This is a very well know and a very well documented journey. President Jefferson assigned this team of men to accomplish this task and journey and their journals can be found in the archives in the United States. I feel Lewis and Clark made a huge sacrifice in making the journey across the Western part of the United states. Thomas
Jefferson had dreamt of sending explorers across North America and had trust in Lewis and Clark to accomplish this mission/dream. Their mission was full of danger which included many meetings with native american tribes. Not all treaties and meetings were peaceful, there were many times the team were at risk of wars with a few factions of warring tribes. They were lucky enough to meet a French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife Shoshone Sacagawea. They served as the expedition’s translators and guides. Their travels with sacajawea were cited in coin replicas and currency. Many paintings can be found in several museums throughout the west. Lewis and Clark wouldn’t have accomplished this huge and death threatening mission without the help of Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife Shoshone Sacagawea. But Sacagawea was one of the biggest parts of their