The Lewis and Clark Expedition by DeLorey

The Lewis And Clark Expedition

Written by: DeLorey

Have you ever heard of the Lewis and Clark expedition? Do you want to learn more about it? Well, if you do you’re looking in the right place! Find out what these two men were looking for, the hardships, and all about their lives before and after the journey.

The Expedition

The Lewis and Clark expedition started in May, 1804, on a camp near St. Louis, Missouri. The main reason Lewis and Clark were sent on the expedition was to find a waterway to the Pacific ocean. They followed the Missouri river on boat. Some parts were so shallow that some of the men had to get out of the boat and pull it through the mud and sand. They brought along a canadian man with his wife, a  16 year old Shoshone native american woman, whose name was Sacagawea. However, Sacagawea proved to be even more helpful than her husband. Whenever their was a fork in the trail, she knew where to go by heart because she used to explore there when she was a child. They finally reached the rocky mountains and crossed over native american territory. The journey and there lives could have ended right then and there. Lucky for them, it turned out that the chief was Sacagawea’s long lost brother!

The Hardships on the Trail

The men had to haul everything up the Rocky mountains from pots and pans to huge tents and guns. The men were also scorched in the sun to a point where even the slightest touch made them howl in pain. The temperatures also dropped so low that the men got serious frostbite. Another problem was preditors. Bears would often attack them, trying to get their food. The same thing happened with mountain lions. This lead to another problem: starvation. Many men suffered from this, causing them to grow weak which made it even harder to haul the supplies up the mountain. And they didn’t have a choice. No matter how sick or wounded they were, they only got a quick rest then had to keep moving forward. Despite all of these hardships, all of the men returned from the journey.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

Lewis was the co-leader of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Before the expedition, Lewis had depression and drinking problems. When he started the expedition, he forgot about all these things. But when he returned, his problems came back to him. One of the reasons they returned was because the woman he loved turned down his marriage proposal. After the expedition, he became governor of the Louisiana territory. He supposedly committed suicide  on October 11, 1809, but may have been murdered. On the other hand,  Clark was born on August 4, 1770 in Virginia. He was an engineer in the army before the expedition. After the expedition Clark became a public official. He also adopted Sacagawea's son, Jean Baptist. William died on September 1, 1838.

Now you know all about where it started and ended, why it happened, who went on it, the hardships, and many other things. I hope you enjoyed learning many interesting facts about the Lewis and Clark expedition!

Biblyography

Kids Discover Lewis and Clark. Houghton Mifflin School, 2017.

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-little-known-facts-about-the-lewis-and-clark-expedition