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Zach Heesaker
Joyce Mosher, PhD
English Composition 2
8 November 2016
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
When President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory and established the
Lewis and Clark Expedition, he did so with a series of objectives and goals in mind; The Lewis
and Clark Expedition was instrumental in accomplishing those objectives and goals, and their
work carried a resounding effect in the scientific, exploratory, and social aspects of America. One
of President Jeffersons primary goals for the expedition was to pay special notice to, the soil &
face of the country...the animals of the country...the mineral productions of every kind
(Jefferson) and Lewis and Clark were successful in recording 300 new plant and animal species,
and collecting hundreds of plant and animal specimens. Another one of President Jeffersons
goals for the expedition was to, take observations of latitude & longitude at all remarkable
points on the river (Jefferson) and even to this day, the maps that Lewis and Clark constructed
hold up almost perfectly to satellite mapping and imaging. The final objective laid out to the
expedition was for them to develop relationships with the Native Americans in the region and
learn about their, language, traditions, monuments...customs & dispositions (Jefferson); Lewis
and Clark were successful at developing relationships with the tribes they encountered and set
the stage for commercial enterprise out west. All of these objectives served the commercialism of
America, as stated in President Jefferson's main objective for the mission, the most direct &
practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce.
(Jefferson) The importance of this expedition on American History cannot be understated, the

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missions assigned to and carried out by the Lewis and Clark Expedition had a profound effect on
American history.
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France; the
Louisiana Territory was an area of land that contained more than 800 million square miles,
essentially doubling the size of the United States. This purchase was the work of intense
negotiations with France where a price of just over eleven million was settled upon. Following
this Purchase Thomas Jefferson sent a secret letter to the United States Congress where he
outlined the possible economic benefits of developing trade networks with the Native Americans
that inhabited the Louisiana Territory. Thomas Jefferson explains to Congress the need to work
with Native Americans in the area to, consequently undersell private traders, foreign and
domestic, drive them from the competition. (Jefferson) It's clear from Thomas Jeffersons letter
to Congress that commercial gain was a much more important selling point for them than the
scientific or exploratory significance of the expedition. Thomas Jefferson then proposes the
essence of the Lewis and Clark expedition; he describes how hell need a military type party to
explore westward, map the geography of the land, build relationships with the Native Americans
there, and bring that information back for the capital gain of the United States. With the
expedition in order, Lewis purchased more than 180 different items to outfit the party; these
items included all the clothing, food, weapons, and comforts the crew would need for their
expedition. (Muhly) On May 14th, 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition left St. Louis, Missouri,
several months later they came across the first new animal discovery of the expedition - the
eastern woodrat; this animal was one of many scientific discoveries on the Lewis and Clark
Expedition.

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Lewis and Clark left with specific instructions to take detailed notes on the soil, flora, and
fauna that they encountered in their travels west, but these werent the only scientific
breakthroughs of the expedition; the expedition also had significant findings in the fields of
geology and paleontology. Before the trip even started, President Thomas Jefferson had Lewis
attend a course on how to study, preserve, and document the plants he came across. (The
Smithsonian) The key instrument for recording and preserving plant species was a leaf press that
Meriwether Lewis brought on the expedition; using this press he was able to collect over 200
specimen samples that still exist to this day. Lewis also recorded detailed drawings of the plants
and animals he encountered in his journal. In the field of Paleontology, William Clark made
significant strides by discovering the first dinosaur bone in North America, and conducting
Americas first paleontology expedition in Boone County, Kentucky; these discoveries led to the
field of paleontology as we know it today. (PBS) Finally, Lewis and Clark made bounds in the
scientific field of Geology. Geology was a new scientific field of study at the time of the
expedition and there wasnt much in way of information about it. Despite these hurdles,
Meriwether Lewis collected rock, mineral, and soil samples, and recorded his observations of
geological formations along the entirety of the expedition. Meriwether Lewis huge catalogue of
plants, animals, minerals, and fossils has mostly survived to this day; the maps of the Lewis and
Clark Expedition have held up just as well, any topographical map of the Missouri river shows
an incredible likeness to the maps drawn up by Lewis and Clark.
It took the Lewis and Clark Expedition just over two years to travel 7,000 miles from St.
Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean and back. (National Park Service) During this time Lewis
and Clark crossed through what would now be ten states, the Rocky Mountains, and four rivers

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to reach the Pacific Ocean; you can see the scale of the terrain they traveled in the picture below.

Photo credit to Wonderopolis.

Throughout the entirety of the trip, Lewis mapped all important geographical features that the
party encountered, and created detailed maps of the waterways and surrounding territory. To

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accomplish these intense navigational feats the Lewis and Clark Expedition employed a variety
of tools, namely: a sextant, octant, and chronometer. (North Dakota) With these tools,
mathematics, a compass, and observations of the sun and stars Lewis and Clark were able to
navigate some of the fiercest terrein in America in a relatively short time span. One of the main
objectives for the exploratory part of this expedition was for Lewis and Clark to find the
northwest passage, a water route that President Thomas Jefferson believed would connect the
Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately no such passage existed as Meriwether Lewis
discovered on top of the continental divide, in his journals he noted the complexity of the land
saying, The main stream now...turns abruptly to the West through a narrow bottom between the
mountains. (Lewis) In this passage Lewis realizes that the passage does not exist, but says, I
therefore did not despair of shortly finding a passage over the mountains and offered the
alternative of a land portage... (Lewis) The party was able to find passage over the Rocky
Mountain Range and reached the Pacific Ocean on November 15th, 1805. Throughout the course
of their journey from St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean Lewis and Clark prepared a map
of their course of travel everyday. These maps helped America develop the trade routes and
networks that Lewis and Clark also helped to establish with the Native Americans in the territory.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition was also successful in President Thomas Jeffersons
third task:to observe and develop relationships with the Native Americans in the Louisiana
Territory for the purpose of trade. Lewis and Clark encountered over fifty Native American tribes
throughout their expedition west; they would begin discussions with Natives by presenting them
with a medal of Thomas Jefferson, and various gifts. This worked more often than not but there
were some instances of negotiations going awry. One instance where Lewis and Clark
demonstrated incredible skill as diplomats was at the Teton Confrontation. The Teton Sioux had

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established themselves as middlemen in the upper Missouri river and the plans the President
Jefferson had proposed threatened to cut them out. After several intense confrontations, Lewis
and Clark were able dissuade the Sioux from violent courses and escaped upriver. (Ronda)
William Clark later called the Teton Sioux the, vilest miscreants of the savage race. (Clark)
Another example of Lewis and Clark developing relationships with Native Americans is when
they included Sacagawea in their party; through a series of translators Sacagawea would enable
the expedition to communicate with the Shoshone tribe. Sacagawea also helped the expedition
find edible flora and navigate through a mountain pass. Perhaps the most important contribution
that Sacagawea made to the expedition was her ability to soothe diplomacy discussions with her
presence; Clark once wrote of her ability to deescalate a situation, he said, all came out and
appeared to assume new life, the sight of This Indian woman...Confirmed those people of our
friendly intentions (Clark) With the maps drawn and the relationships established, Lewis and
Clark prepared the Louisiana Territory for commercial enterprise.
Three years after Lewis and Clark finished their expedition they founded the Missouri
Fur Company; this was one of the first examples of the expeditions effect on the commercialism
of the United States. Lewis and Clark used their knowledge of the region, and government
contracts to fortify their companys position, allowing them to expand the American fur industry
west. The boom of the fur industry on American soil pushed out British and Canadian economic
interests that came in from the North and further solidified the United States hold on the region.
The fur trade continued to grow in the Louisiana Territory until it completely exploited the
beaver and bison populations in the region to near extinction; the trade got so big that William
Clark once recorded nearly 290,000 dollars worth of goods moving west for trade. (Wood) The
effect of all this fur trapping on the animal species was catastrophic; bison populations dropped

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from over 500,000 before the fur trade to 325 in 1884. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) For many
Native Americans, the commercialism that the expedition brought to them marked the beginning
of the end as they became dependent on goods and services from out east rather than selfreliancy. Perhaps the worst impact of the movement west was the smallpox epidemic that
occurred in the Mandan Tribe. In 1837 a smallpox epidemic swept through the Mandan Tribe
reducing its numbers from over 2,000 to just over 100. Fort Clarks superintendent, Francis
Chardon, recorded the epidemic and stories that arose from it; in one particular episode he wrote
of the Native Americans and their knowledge of their imminent deaths saying, they say they
dance, on account of their not having a long time to live, as they expect to all die of the small
pox (Chardon) Finally, the Lewis and Clark expedition laid the foundation for all future
exploration out west, to include historical events like the Gold Rush, and The Oregon Trail.
Lewis and Clarks work during and after the expedition helped to solidify America's position in
the Louisiana Territory, and expand commercialism westward.
In conclusion, the purchase of the Louisiana Territory and the Lewis and Clark
Expedition was instrumental in expanding commercialism. President Thomas Jefferson devised a
difficult series of tasks for Lewis and Clark to accomplish and they met those expectations. First,
Thomas Jefferson wanted Lewis and Clark to investigate the flora, fauna, and soil of the land
they came across; they documented hundreds of species of plants and animals and made
contributions to other scientific fields. Second, Thomas Jefferson wanted Lewis and Clark to
explore the newly purchased land, and map a route to the Pacific Ocean; the maps that Lewis and
Clark made on their expedition stand up comparatively to the best topographical and satellite
imaging maps that we have today. Finally Thomas Jefferson wanted Lewis and Clark to establish
relationships with the Native Americans in the region for the purpose of trade; Lewis and Clark

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showed astounding diplomacy skills in regards to building trade networks and resolving intense
situations. The Lewis and Clark Expedition certainly carried some tragedies in its wake, but it
also influenced some of the most important moments and movements in American History. The
Lewis and Clark Expedition was one of the most important missions for the commercialism of
America.

Works Cited

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Chardon, Francis. Section 3: Smallpox Epidemic of 1837. North Dakota Studies, North
Dakota Studies, ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-ii-time-transformation-1201-1860/lesson-4alliances-and-conflicts/topic-1-smallpox-epidemics-1781-1837-1851/section-3-smallpoxepidemic-1837.
The Collection: Plants. National Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian,
naturalhistory.si.edu/lewisandclark/index.html?loc=%2flewisandclark%2fhome.html.
Geography - What Methods Did Lewis and Clark Use to Determine Their Geographic
Position? North Dakota, State Historical Society of North Dakota,
history.nd.gov/exhibits/lewisclark/geomethods.html.
Jefferson, Thomas. Jefferson's Secret Message To Congress Regarding The Lewis &Amp;
Clark Expedition. Received by Congress, EBSCO Discovery Service, History Reference
Center, 18 Jan. 1803,
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.cmclibraries.coloradomtn.edu/eds/detail/detail?sid=080a902f3fc9-4361-9f1839e10f3636b5%40sessionmgr106&vid=2&hid=126&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmumc2nv
cgu9c2l0zq%3d%3d#an=59447512&db=khh.
Jefferson, Thomas. President Jefferson's Instructions to Captain Meriwether Lewis. Received
by Meriwether Lewis, National Geographic, National Geographic, 20 June 1803,
http://nationalgeographic.org/archive/xpeditions/activities/01/lewis_story_1.html.

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Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804-1806. Wonderopolis, Wonderopolis,
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/carte_lewis_and_clark_expedition.png.
Lewis, Meriwether et al. The Essential Lewis and Clark. New York, Ecco Press, 2000,
http://marmot.lib.overdrive.com/127c9356-b701-457a-981557eecf769383/10/50/en/contentdetails.htm?id=35cc5e48-9734-4b63-bcb9-3edf17f83dcd.
Muhly, Frank, and Joseph Mussulman. Outfitting the Corps. Discovering Lewis and Clark,
University of Nebraska , Aug. 2007, http://www.lewis-clark.org/article/2977.
Ronda, James P. Lewis &Amp; Clark among the Indians 2. The Teton Confrontation. Journals
of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Online , University of Nebraska ,
http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/read/?
_xmlsrc=lc.ronda.01.02.xml&_xslsrc=lcstyles.xsl.
Timeline of American Bison. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
www.fws.gov/bisonrange/timeline.htm.
Timeline: American Paleontology in the 19th Century. PBS, PBS,
www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/dinosaur-paleontology/.
United States. National Park Service. Frequently Asked Questions. National Parks Service,
U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/lecl/faqs.htm.
Wood, Raymond W. Post-Expedition Fur Trade. Discovering Lewis and Clark, www.lewisclark.org/article/2868.

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