Lewis & Clark on the Columbia River
The Lewis and Clark Expedition made the first documented descent of the Columbia from the mouth of the Snake River to the Pacific.
This voyage strengthened the claim of the young United States to all of the lands of the Columbia River Basin.
Captain Robert Gray's 1792 American claim by maritime entry into the Columbia had never been fully accepted by England, the competing nation for the land and resources of the Columbia River region.
The Corps of Discovery entered the Columbia at the mouth of the Snake River on October 16, 1805. Twenty-four camp sites were established by the expedition on its 325-mile downriver dugout canoe voyage. Along the way, Lewis and Clark explored and mapped tributaries of the Columbia as well as plains, mountain ranges and valleys the expedition traversed.
It was a journey in which the men of the expedition and the Indian woman Sacagawea successfully negotiated the rapids and cataracts of the Columbia.
At the broad estuary of the river they endured raging storms, turbulent waters, and suffered near starvation before reaching the Pacific Ocean in mid-November, 1805.
The explorers gathered information on the Indian tribes who lived along this river, and the flora and fauna of the river corridor. It was this documented
description of the rich river region that served as the lure for the later pioneers who crossed the American continent to settle in the Oregon Territory.
The men of the expedition built Fort Clatsop, near present-day Astoria, and wintered there. In March, 1806, the Party began the return trip up the Columbia, the first leg on the long journey home.
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