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podcast transcript
Thomas Jefferson’s finalization of the Louisiana Purchase was one of the largest land transactions in history. For a relatively small sum, the young nation purchased a significant portion of the continent.
But there was a problem. The government had no idea exactly what was contained in the land it had purchased. Most of it is unexplored.
To solve this problem, expeditions were formed to explore new lands that would ultimately shape the future of America.
Learn more about the Lewis and Clark expedition in this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
If you remember my episodes about the Louisiana Purchase, the European Wars, and the Haitian Slave Rebellion, Napoleon Bonepart gave up North America.
President Thomas Jefferson secured the Louisiana Purchase for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States at 3 cents per acre. Even adjusted for inflation, it was a really good deal.
Although this deal contradicted Jefferson’s mission to shrink the federal government, westward expansion was central to his vision for the United States. Jefferson became interested in the West after the American Revolution.
Most Americans in Jefferson’s day lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. For Jefferson, the West symbolized possibility, potential, and mystery. His interest in westward expansion was old news by the time he was elected president in 1800.
In fact, his fascination with the West began even before he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was fascinated by the Mississippi River and the unknown river systems to its west. He hoped there would be a river system that would lead directly to the Pacific Ocean.
Historian Stephen Ambrose put Jefferson’s vision of the West in perspective when he wrote: “In the age of imperialism, he was the greatest empire builder. His spirit encompassed the continent.”
His limited knowledge came from the reports of fur traders. French explorers also brought news of the fur regions of the Great Lakes. However, the report lacked the scientific rigor that Jefferson sought.
Jefferson secured funding for western exploration beginning in January 1803, prior to the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson requested only $2,500 from Congress to fund the mission. To keep costs low, Jefferson paid military salaries to expedition members and drew funds from the defense budget. He called this expedition the Corps of Discovery, a unit of the U.S. Army.
Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis to lead the mission. He outlined his ambitions for western exploration, but noted: “The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River… and its currents and communications with the Pacific Ocean…”
Lewis had already been commissioned a captain in the U.S. Army, but he knew that his military training alone would not be enough. To satisfy Jefferson’s ambitions, he had to become a scientist who would achieve the broad goals of Jefferson’s mission.
Jefferson wrote to Lewis in June 1803, outlining his goals at length, writing: “Your observations should be taken with great pains and accuracy, and put into words clearly and intelligibly not only to yourself but also to others.”
Because Lewis was not a scientist, he had to study to prepare for the observations requested by Jefferson. He spent the summer of 1803 in Philadelphia. There he received intensive courses in several fields of scientific research. He worked with experts in botany, geology, zoology, cartography, and astronomy.
Benjamin Rush, a Revolutionary-era physician, provided Lewis with medical training for the expedition. Rush famously provided the expedition with 600 ‘Thunderbolt’ pills, a powerful laxative of his own design. He claimed it would produce an ‘explosive’ bowel movement that could alleviate any illness.
After training, Lewis went to Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, to gather supplies. Lewis shipped supplies to Pennsylvania, where he met his former military commander, William Clark.
Lewis and Clark were very different leaders. Jefferson chose Lewis because of his love of books, but Lewis recruited Clark because of his fighting spirit on the frontier. Clark was recruited to strengthen the spirit of the group, serving as a steadfast and reliable anchor throughout the entire expedition.
Clark distinguished himself as an accomplished cartographer despite having no formal training in the field. His maps are still considered high quality by modern standards. Data from the National Park Service emphasize that he was a highly skilled mapmaker who utilized tools such as a telescope, quadrant, and compass to achieve his results.
As he guided people on their journeys, he kept remarkable records of their distances. When calculating the distance traveled from Camp Dubois outside St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean, the difference was only 40 miles.
Clark should be taken with a grain of salt. On the expedition, Clark brought along his slave servant York, who became the first African American to cross the continent.
Yorks were indispensable in helping with river navigation and hunting during harsh winters. The Legion treated York as an equal on the road and even granted him the right to vote during the harsh winter of 1805. This was widely considered the first vote by an African American in U.S. history.
York’s equality ended upon his return. Everyone else walked away with 320 acres of land and double the promised pay, but York received nothing. When the expedition ended, York asked Clark for his freedom, but Clark refused.
The expedition began at Fort DuBois, upstream of St. Louis on the Mississippi River, where it spent the winter of 1803–4. They recruited that fall and winter, growing the group to 40.
Lewis and Clark handpicked every member of the expedition for specific and important skills. Each man excelled at woodworking, hunting, sailing, and blacksmithing. After loading all their supplies into a 55-foot keelboat built by Clark and crew, the men set out for the Missouri River.
Lewis and Clark began keeping detailed journals, a practice that defined their expeditions. Their journals provide vivid details of every step of the journey. Historians access digitized journals more frequently than almost any other major source set on American history.
The daily journals tell of their discoveries, triumphs, and tragedies. On August 20, 1804, a tragedy occurred when Charles Floyd died from a ruptured appendix.
Clark’s journal that day records the tragedy. he wrote “Yesterday… Floyd got a very bad rap… He died with a composure that justifies his character as a man and a soldier.”
The journal showcases changing geography, animal discoveries, and relationships with Native Americans. The journal contains sketches, maps, drawings of animals, and recipes. They provide insight into the members of the corps and their incredible achievements.
Perhaps the journal’s most famous character is Sacagawea (sah-cah-gah-WEE-ah). Sacagawea first appears in the diary in November 1804, when the expedition reached North Dakota.
William Clark hired a French fur trader named Touissant Charbonneau to help the expedition obtain horses and to serve as a representative and translator for Native American relations. But the only reason they hired him was because of his wife, Sacagawea.
As the expedition entered the Rocky Mountains, they desperately needed horses. They also had to negotiate and maintain peaceful relations with the Shoshone tribe.
These negotiations were a complex endeavor, a kind of telephone language game. Lewis and Clark had to speak with French-speaking members of the Shoshone tribe, who then spoke with Charbonneau, who then spoke with Sacagawea. She then spoke to Shoshone, who sent the message back.
The members of the expedition held Charbonneau in fairly low esteem. They taunted him for his mistakes, including nearly destroying all the records when he panicked and nearly capsized the ship.
Lewis wrote about Charbonneau: “Probably the most timid waterman in the world.”
Their opinion of his wife was quite clear. They saw her as resourceful and essential. In the same passage in which Lewis chastised her husband, he wrote that he was the one who owned Sacagawea. “Patience and determination.” It is no exaggeration to say that she saved the expedition.
Her skills as a negotiator allowed the group to gain access to much-needed horses as well as secure safe passage.
The expedition also carried a secret weapon: the Girardoni air rifle. Capable of firing 20 rounds in one minute, this rifle amazed the natives Lewis and Clark met during official negotiations.
When he reached Three Forks, Missouri, Sacagawea recognized his childhood home. Lewis and Clark quickly arranged a meeting with a local Shoshone band. As Sacagawea began to interpret, divine revelation intervened and she realized that the chief was her long-lost brother.
The expedition benefited from her deep ties to the region. Her keen geographical instincts and understanding also guided the Legion through unfamiliar terrain. Her knowledge of local plants allowed her to forage for food even after grocery stores ran out.
She did all this while caring for her young son and, as Lewis mentioned, her husband. Clark had a unique relationship with Sacagawea and her young son, Jean-Baptiste, whom he called “Pomp” and “My little Dancing Boy.” His bond with Sacagawea was built on deep respect, while at the same time he had a genuine fatherly love for the boy.
One of the most interesting side stories of the expedition was Jean-Baptiste’s future. Upon returning from his expedition in 1806, Clark offered to raise the boy, even offering land and a farm if Charbonneau and Sacagawea could bring the boy closer to him and provide him with an education.
The family took him up on his offer of a farm, but realizing it was not for them, they left to return to the fur trade in 1811, leaving Jean-Baptiste in the care of William Clark. Clark became the legal guardian of Jean-Baptiste and his sister after Sacagawea’s death in 1813.
Although the expedition failed to find the mythical river passage to the Pacific Ocean, it succeeded in something far more important. It was to prove that it did not exist and to spark an endless passion for the American West.
Jefferson authorized the expedition to assert American sovereignty over the Louisiana Purchase lands. Lewis, with Sacagawea’s help, issued a statement to the groups they met asserting American control of the region as a result of the Louisiana Purchase.
The expedition encountered friction, especially with the Sioux, but was successful in reaching the Pacific and asserting land claims for the United States.
Jefferson also tasked the expedition with a large-scale scientific mission to catalog all the resources and animals it encountered on its 8,000-mile journey. Their journals of plant and animal life may have been Lewis and Clark’s greatest success.
Lewis and Clark recorded the discovery of 178 plant and 122 animal species previously unknown to American scientists. In their journals, they drew animals and described their habitat, behavior, and values.
The journal characterizes legendary Western animals, from grizzlies to bighorn sheep and, arguably, their favorite find, the prairie dog. ‘Barking Squirrel’ stopped his day-long expedition in northeastern Nebraska to watch and try to catch one.
After much effort, they captured a live prairie dog, caged it, and sent it to President Jefferson, who was equally amazed by the creature. Despite keeping the prairie dog in captivity for several weeks, Jefferson eventually shipped it to the Peel Museum in Philadelphia, where it became a popular attraction.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition occupies a prominent place in the American story. Members of the Legion of Discovery were the first American citizens to see the majesty of the Great Plains, cross the Continental Divide atop the Rocky Mountains, and see the Pacific Ocean.
Their chronicles of plants, animals, and geological features energized science and sparked the race to settle the West.
The expedition marked the beginning of America’s westward expansion. For better or worse, events in the West over the next century can be directly linked to the Lewis and Clark expedition.
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