Map of the Expedition
This map of the United States shows all of the modern-day state boundaries, rivers and lakes. Marked on the map is the route of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, cities of interest to the Expedition, Indian tribes encountered by the Expedition, a timeline of significant events, and the outline of the Louisiana Purchase territory.
Significant Expedition Events
January 18, 1803, Washington, D.C. President Thomas Jefferson secretly wrote to Congress asking for an appropriation of $2,500 to finance an expedition to explore the Missouri River. He was interested in finding possible routes to the Pacific Ocean and establishing trading partners with the Indians. Congress passed this request into law on February 23, 1803.
August 31, 1803
Meriwether Lewis and a party of eleven men left Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a large keelboat and traveled down the Ohio River.
October 14, 1803
Lewis arrived at Clarksville, Indiana, and probably on the next day joined William Clark, York, and a number of men (known as the "nine young men from Kentucky").
May 14, 1804
After wintering at Camp Dubois, Clark wrote in his journal: "I set out at 4 oClock P.M. in the presence of many of the Neighbouring inhabitents, and proceeded on under a jentle brease up the Missourie." Meriwether Lewis and Indian language interpreter George Drouillard joined the party several days later.
April 7, 1805
After spending the winter at Fort Mandan (in modern North Dakota), the keelboat under the command of Corporal Richard Warfington returned to St. Louis with a shipment of Indian artifacts, live animals, reports, and scientific samples for President Jefferson, while the main party under Lewis and Clark set out for the West.
November 7, 1805
Still almost 20 miles from the Pacific coast, the Corps may have been mistaken in their assumption that they were in sight of the ocean. Later in the month, Lewis and Clark took a vote on where to build their winter encampment- Fort Clatsop. In the true spirit of democracy, all members of the party participated in this vote—including York, Clark's enslaved servant, and Sacagawea.
March 23, 1806
The Corps left Fort Clatsop and gave it to Coboway, a Clatsop chief. After having to wait for the snow to melt before crossing the Bitterroot Mountains, the Corps made excellent time on their eastern return trip.
July 25, 1806
Clark named a large rock pillar Pompy's Tower (now Pompey's Pillar on the Yellowstone River in modern Montana) after Sacagawea's son. Next to some Indian rock drawings, Clark inscribed his name and the date. Still visible today, this nineteenth-century graffiti is the only physical evidence of the Corps' journey.
July 27, 1806
Lewis had a fight with the Blackfeet and two of the Indians were killed. A few days earlier he had been at the party's most northern point, Camp Disappointment, on the Marias River in modern Montana.
September 23, 1806
The Corps of Discovery safely arrived in St. Louis. Lewis wrote to Thomas Jefferson, "we have penitrated the Continent of North America to the Pacific Ocean..."
Image Credits
- United States Map, courtesy the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.