Lewis, Clark & Sacagawea
Explore: The Corps of Discovery
Lewis selected his former superior in the army, William Clark, to help lead the U.S. Army expedition, now known as the “Corps of Discovery.”
But although their military training would be indispensable, it was not enough to prepare them for what lay ahead. Lewis was tutored by leading scientists in Philadelphia where he learned mapmaking and surveying, botany, mathematics, anatomy, and medicine.
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The Corps of Discovery
Lewis recruited men to join the expedition and gathered supplies. Among his equipment were scientific instruments (i.e. chronometer and a sextant), arms and ammunition, ink and writing materials, 193 pounds of portable soup, mosquito netting, a corn mill, candles, tools, blankets, and reference books.Lewis also knew he would meet Native Americans throughout the journey. Giving gifts was a way to symbolize friendship in native cultures. Following Jefferson’s instructions to treat the natives “in the most friendly and conciliatory manner,” Lewis bought gifts such as glass beads, mirrors, and peace medals to give.
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May 14, 1804
After gathering enough supplies, Lewis, Clark, and more than 40 men set off from Camp Dubois (near St. Louis). In a large keelboat and two smaller pirogues, they started their journey up the Missouri River.They studied their surroundings carefully, wrote in their journals, and drew maps. They collected samples and specimens (such as skins and skeletons of new animals, soil samples, seeds, and minerals), and named new rivers, streams, plants, and animals they discovered (sometimes after famous Americans or their friends). Imagine the longest car trip you have ever taken. Did you notice a change in what you saw outside the window? Maybe a big city that slowly turns into farmland as you travel down the highway? When the Corps of Discovery was traveling across North America, they too saw a change in landscape, from forests, to plains and prairies, to tall mountains.
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November 1804
After traveling nearly 1,600 miles, in November 1804, the Corps of Discovery began building Fort Mandan in present-day North Dakota to camp for the winter. The site was across the Missouri River from the earth-lodge villages of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes.While there, Lewis and Clark worked to establish a friendship with the native tribes. They met a trader, Toussaint Charbonneau, who agreed to work for the expedition as a translator, but it would be his pregnant wife who would be of greater import.
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Sacagawea
Charbonneau was married to Sacagawea, a Native American woman of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe who had been captured by the Hidatsas. She would be the only woman to join the expedition and her knowledge of the land and native tribes would be invaluable. -
April 7, 1805
With the arrival of spring, on April 7, 1805, the Corps of Discovery, which now included Sacagawea, her newborn son Jean Baptiste (later nicknamed Pomp, or Pompy, by Clark), and Charbonneau set off again from Fort Mandan. They journeyed into present-day Montana where they encountered herds of more than 10,000 buffalo and grizzly bears. -
August 17, 1805
As the expedition continued on, Sacagawea spotted a land feature that she recognized and realized they were near the home of her family, the Shoshone people. With seemingly endless mountains laying before them, the explorers came upon a Shoshone village. Sacagawea came to help translate and on August 17, 1805, was reunited with her brother, the Shoshone chief, Cameahwait.
Reflection
If you were exploring and could name the rivers and mountains, what are some names you would choose?
