How Did The Lewis And Clark Difficult

The Lewis and Clark expedition is arguably the most courageous and adventurous exploration effort ever made in American history. The Lewis and Clark took place after the Louisiana Purchase as an effort to find a northwest passage, map the newly purchased land, make scientific discoveries in the area, and to establish contact with the natives and set up a strong trade network with them. Through efforts of Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacagawea, and many others, the United states was radically changed through the exploration of these new uncharted areas. The Lewis and Clark exploration would not have been possible without Thomas Jefferson's monumental purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Due to the United States westward

When Jefferson bought the land it was a very quick and rash decision and he was not sure what was in the land he had bought. There was lots of crazy theories and rumors of what people would find in the new land. These included things such as Woolly mammoths, Peruvian llamas, and blue-eyed Welsh-speaking Indians. In order to explore this new land Jefferson commenced an exploration team. It would consist of a team of men who would venture out into the wilderness in hopes of accomplishing many goals. Goals would include finding a northwest passage as well as just exploring and mapping out the new territory. To lead the expedition he chose Meriwether Lewis who then choose William Clark as the co-commander for the

Thomas Jefferson had acquired $2,500 from congress to pay for the trip as well as supplies. The expedition team would be called ‘The Corps of Discovery’. To prepare for the voyage, Lewis purchased many supplies including, food, guns and ammunition, knives, medicine, clothes, items to trade with the indians, as well as navigational instruments such as compasses. Lewis also had a boat built capable of carrying 12 tons of cargo. As leader of the Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark wanted the best crew they could find. They needed brave men with a variety of skills such as hunting, cooking, translating, negotiating, etcetera. They also needed to be strong as the team would be traveling upstream for a majority of the trip and would need to row the boat and supplies all that way. Eventually 48 members were chosen for the adventure. The majority of these men were in the military or came from military background. Each man was exclusively picked by Lewis and Clark. The team spent the winter of 1803-1804 training at Camp Dubois in the Illinois Territory. They needed to be ready for anything the voyage might throw at them. On May 14, 1804, the team rowed upriver to St. Charles to meet up with Lewis where they would begin their