In 1804-06, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark lead about 40 soldiers and boatmen on an epic journey. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned this "Corps of Discovery" to find a rout to the Pacific Ocean through the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. Along the way, they mapped the land, recorded its resources, and contacted its native inhabitants.
The landscape has changed since Lewis and Clark explored it; rivers have been dammed, forests cut over, prairies plowed under, and roads built to the horizon. Although remnants of wilderness still exist, imagine this land as Lewis and Clark first saw it two centuries ago.
The United States purchased the Louisiana territory - more than 350,000 square miles - from Fence in 1803. President Jefferson selected Meriwether Lewis (far Left) to lead an expedition there.
With Jefferson's permission, Lewis asked his friend and former commanding officer, William Clark (left), to be co-leader. Although opposite in temperament, they worked harmoniously throughout the two-year journey.
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