How The Differences Between Lewis And Clark

The Expedition of Lewis and Clark was very important to the United States’ goals at its time. Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803. In 1804, Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis to lead an exploration through the new territory. Lewis chose an old friend, William Clark, to accompany him on the journey. The expedition was caused by the want to explore the newly bought territory, to possibly find the northwest passage, to establish trade with the Natives, and as a result much more was found out about the current United States land.

Lewis and Clark led a team of 59, called the Corps of Discovery, through the Louisiana territory to the Pacific Ocean, or Oregon Territory. The expedition began near St. Louis, Missouri, in May of

Lewis kept a detailed journal about the plants and animals they came across. Lewis and Clark came across fields of buffalo, antelope, elk, and deer. Lewis, Clark, and some of the other members of the Corps of Discovery returned to St. Louis by September 1806 to report their findings to Jefferson. Also, they recorded their contact with Native Americans and described and drew the shape of the landscape and the creatures of this western world, most of which were brand new to the Americans. In doing this, they fulfilled many of Thomas Jefferson's wishes for the Expedition. Clark drew multiple maps that were very detailed. He named rivers and creeks, important points in the landscape, the shapes of the river shores, and spots where the expedition group spent every night or camped for longer periods of time. Later explorers used these maps to further explore the western part of the continent. Douglas Perry stated, “The Expedition of the Corps of Discovery shaped a crude route to the waters of the Pacific and marked an initial pathway for the new nation to spread westward from ocean to ocean, fulfilling what would become to many Americans an obvious