Encyclopedia
Exploration
As president, Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. He was a strong supporter of westward expansion and sponsored many expeditions to map the western parts of North America.
“ The object of your mission...”
“ Your proposition respecting a tour to the west and North west of the Continent would be Extremely agreable to me ...”
In 1783, Elizabeth House Trist journeyed down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers hoping to reunite with her husband in Natchez. Trist's travel diary, created at the request of Thomas Jefferson, is the earliest known record of a Mississippi River expedition by a woman.
“ ...of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness & perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from it’s direction..”
Next page in
Jefferson and . . .