Adventurous Facts About The Lewis And Clark Expedition
In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson ordered Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark to march west and chart the vast, unexplored interior of America.
With a colorful cast of characters, Lewis and Clark spent two years hiking clear to the Pacific Ocean and back. In so doing, they united the States from sea to sea, and, it might be said, truly founded the United States as we know it today.
Their expedition is enshrined in the lore of the nation, but how much do we really know about it? Here are 42 adventurous facts about the voyage of Lewis and Clark.
42. Humble Origins
Lewis and Clark, American history’s dynamic duo, first met in 1795. A hot-headed young soldier, Meriwether Lewis was court-martialed for drunkenly challenging his superior officer to a duel. While he wasn’t booted from the army, he was placed with a new company, under the command of one William Clark. It wouldn't be American history without a duel!
41. The Louisiana Purchase
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson pulled off the Louisiana Purchase, the biggest one-time purchase of land in human history. For the equivalent of $300 million, the United States acquired virtually all of what is now considered the American Midwest (and just a little bit of Canada to boot) from France, as well as a sufficiently vague western border which would allow Americans to explore and claim lands clear to the Pacific Ocean.
40. The Dynamic Duo
To reach—and therefore claim for the US—the Pacific Coast, Jefferson quickly enlisted to his secretary, one Meriwether Lewis, to lead an expeditionary crew across the interior to find a passage to the sea. Lewis chose his old army buddy William Clark as co-leader.
Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West (2002), National Geographic Television
39. Co-Captains
There was a small problem: Secretary of Battle Henry Dearborn, who was officially responsible for the expedition, denied Lewis the right to share command. Clark would remain, officially, Lewis’ second-in-command, but the two men referred to each other as “captain” throughout the voyage, both as a sign of respect and to hide Clark’s subordination from the rest of the Corps of Discovery.
