The Similarities And Differences Between The Lewis And Clark Expedition

In the year of 1803, the Louisiana purchase occurred. The land that was purchased was very, very cheap. Napoleon sold the territory to the United States for only three cents an acre. This land needed to be explored to see what the United States had purchased. Thomas Jefferson hired Meriwether Lewis to go and explore the territory. Lewis bought a Newfoundland to accompany him on his journey. He sends a letter to a lifelong friend, William Clark, who agreed to go on this expedition with Lewis. Clark has brought his slave since childhood with him. The two explorers put flyers up around town for people to come and join this voyage. Many showed up when they decided who to bring with them; however, many were cut from the list, and around

Clark responded saying that he would join Lewis. Along with Lewis and Clark there were thirty to forty men who joined. These men ranged from soldiers to average men. The journey started at present day St. Louis. They traveled 3,700 miles in non-motorized boats, horseback, and on foot over a span of two years, four months, and ten days. Lewis was supposed to keep documentation of the plants and animals that they discovered on their journey from present day Texas to Montana and North Dakota. This expedition started on the Missouri River. The starting point was where the Missouri River met the Mississippi River. Along the way Clark and the rest of the men kept documentation of the path that they had followed while Lewis kept track of the plants that he

His wife, Sacagawea, was a Shoshone who was captured by the Hidatsas, and sold as a wife to Toussaint Charbonneau. Sacagawea is pregnant, and on February 11, 1805 a baby boy is born. She had a labor that was assisted by Lewis. The boy was named Jean Baptiste and was the final person on the voyage. On November 7, 1805 Clark writes in his journal when he believes that he can see the ocean. This journal entry is the most famous entry from him. The entry says, "Ocian in view! O! the joy." The expedition is still twenty miles from the sea. Storms put the expedition in a stand still for three weeks.

In late June of 1806 the men stayed with the Nez Perce. Lewis said that this tribe was "the most hospitable, honest and sincere people that we have met with in our voyage." On July 25, 1806 the men reached the ocean. Clark inscribes his name and the date on the side of the stone. On the way back to St. Louis the men had the current to their back. With the current this way the men could travel up to seventy miles per