Corps of Discovery

Meriwether Lewis · 1804 CE – 1806 CE · Earth

Explore the Missouri and find the most direct water route across the continent to the Pacific, for commerce, as Jefferson’s instructions put it.

Historical context

In a confidential message of January 1803 Jefferson asked Congress for an expedition up the Missouri and on to the Pacific, to find a water route for commerce and to learn about the country and its nations. The Corps of Discovery left the Mississippi in May 1804 and came back to St Louis in September 1806, having depended on the Mandan, Hidatsa, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Clatsop and other peoples whose lands it crossed.

The voyage, step by step

1. Up the Missouri

   14 May 1804

   On 14 May 1804 the Corps of Discovery leaves Camp Dubois, opposite the mouth of the Missouri, and starts up the river.

2. Winter among the Mandan

   2 November 1804

   They build Fort Mandan beside the Mandan and Hidatsa towns, winter there, and hire Sacagawea and her husband as interpreters for the Shoshone.

3. Crossing the Rockies

   12 August 1805

   On 12 August 1805 Lewis crosses the divide at what is now Lemhi Pass; horses bought from the Shoshone then carry the party over the Bitterroots to the Nez Perce.

4. To the Pacific

   7 December 1805

   They reach the Columbia’s estuary in November 1805, vote on where to winter, and on 7 December settle among the Clatsop at the site of Fort Clatsop.

Outcome

Reached the Columbia’s estuary in November 1805, wintered at Fort Clatsop and returned to St Louis on 23 September 1806 with the journals; Sergeant Floyd died on the way out, and one or two Piegan Blackfeet were killed on the way home.

Meriwether Lewis

Army officer and President Jefferson’s secretary who, with William Clark, led the Corps of Discovery up the Missouri and across the continent to the Pacific in 1804–06.

Read on Wikipedia

Sources

• Jefferson’s Instructions for Meriwether Lewis, 20 June 1803 (transcript, ed. Gerard W. Gawalt)Thomas Jefferson · Library of Congress, Rivers, Edens, Empires: Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of America · 1803
• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume 2: August 30, 1803–August 24, 1804Gary E. Moulton, editor · University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; online edition, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska–Lincoln · 1986
• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume 3: August 25, 1804–April 6, 1805Gary E. Moulton, editor · University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; online edition, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska–Lincoln · 1987
• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume 4: April 7–July 27, 1805Gary E. Moulton, editor · University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; online edition, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska–Lincoln · 1987
• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume 5: July 28–November 1, 1805Gary E. Moulton, editor · University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; online edition, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska–Lincoln · 1988
• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume 6: November 2, 1805–March 22, 1806Gary E. Moulton, editor · University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; online edition, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska–Lincoln · 1990
• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume 7: March 23–June 9, 1806Gary E. Moulton, editor · University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; online edition, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska–Lincoln · 1991
• The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume 8: June 10–September 26, 1806Gary E. Moulton, editor · University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln; online edition, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska–Lincoln · 1993
• The Trail of Lewis and Clark, 1804–1904, volume 2 (with George Bird Grinnell’s account of Wolf Calf)Olin D. Wheeler · G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York · 1904
• HistoryMandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (Three Affiliated Tribes)
• Lewis and ClarkNational Park Service, Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
• HistoryNez Perce Tribe
• Watkuweis and the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionNational Park Service, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail · 2019
• YorkNational Park Service
• Charles Floyd (explorer) — Wikipedia
• Sacagawea — Wikipedia
• Meriwether Lewis — Wikipedia

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