My Experiences of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
In May of 1804, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead a fact finding expedition of 59 men, in which I was a part of, through the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. We left in May of 1804 and were told to seek a water passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, establish relations with the Native American tribes to inform them that the land was now property of the United States Government, and collect information of the wildlife and its habitats around. This trip took 2 years and 4 months to complete and was very dangerous, long, and tiring.
The expedition led to the discovery of many animals. One of which is named a cougar. On June 23,1804
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On many occasions, our meetings were kind and resourceful. While some brought us danger and fear. One of the friendliest meetings were with the Chinook Indians. They were quite odd, as they believed beauty came from crushing their round skulls into flat skulls as a newborn baby. We noticed their unusual appearance when we met on October 26, 1805. 2 Indian chiefs came and brought Indian men to offer deer meat and root bread cake. Our meeting was peaceful and helped us earn resources as well as traded handkerchiefs, medals, and …show more content…
Lewis was very skilled in many things, but he was very good at fishing to feed our men, journaling everything we saw, and in detail. He was even able to help Sacagawea give birth to her child. He was able to travel ahead of everyone and keep alive. Clark was just as skilled too. He created extremely accurate maps that our men could travel and navigate. He was also very good at remembering the land marks he had seen in case he has gotten lost he would know what to look for. Clark was very helpful to the men and to Sacagawea during the expedition.
Sacagawea was the only woman on the trip. However, she was possibly one of the strongest of everyone in the trip. She carried a child the entire trip and was able to keep him alive and healthy. She had very good skills that our expedition needed to complete the expedition. She was able to interpret the Indian languages of Hidatsa and Shoshone. She was the reason we had horse to journey across the mountains through the winter months. She was a very big success to our