The History of United States 

The Lewis & Clark Expedition

 

   When the US purchased the territory, a huge part west of the Mississippi river was unknown to Americans and needed to be examined before they could settle there. President jefferson decided to send an exploritory expedition to check out the land so he appointed his private secretary, Marywhether Lewis as a Commander in charge of the expedition. Lewis invited his former superior from the army, Wiilliam Clark, to be his co-commander.

 

   Their mission was to explore the unknown territory, establish trade with the Natives and affirm the sovereignty(suppream power or athority) of the United States in the region. One of their goals was to find a waterway from the US to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and Clark commanded the Corps of Discovery which consisted of 35 people.

 

   The epeditin lasted from May 1804 until September 1806. They failed to find a waterway from the Mississippi to the Pacific, but they documented more than 100 new animals and 178 plants and they made 140 maps of the region. The expedition was marked in history and the story of the explorers was made into many films and there were many books written about them.