Research Paper Thomas Jefferson

In 1801 when Thomas Jefferson became president, the United States was only made up of seventeen states. In 1803 the United States paid France fifteen million dollars for the Louisiana territory, which was eight hundred twenty-eight thousand square miles. It doubled the size of the United States. After the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson wanted to know more about the new territory. He wanted to find a water way across North America that would lead to the Pacific Ocean and he wanted to learn about the Western Native American tribes.

He chose Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition called the “Journey of Discovery” through the new land. Meriwether asked his colleague from his army days, William Clark, to join him as his co captain. Lewis and Clark, along with other men, formed the group called the Corps of Discovery.

Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia on August 18, 1774. The Lewis family and the Jeffersons were good friends. Thomas Jefferson had known Lewis from the time of Lewis’ birth.

After he served in the military, he became Jefferson’s secretary. Lewis was a moody and thoughtful person and a worrier. He was better educated than Clark and he prepared for the trip by reading many books from Thomas Jefferson’s library. He studied mathematics, mapmaking, fossils, anatomy, natural history, medicine, and anything else that could have been helpful.

William Clark was born in central Virginia, on August 1, 1770. He enlisted in the army in 1789. He joined a regiment to protect Kentucky settlements from Indian attacks.

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William Clark had a temper but he was also very friendly and optimistic. Clark easily got along with the Native Americans and when they needed medical attention or help, they would almost always ask for Clark or the “redheaded one” as they called him. Lewis was a scientist and thinker and Clark was the geographer and engineer. Twenty-three United States Army privates joined the Corps of Discovery. Clark brought his slave, York. Lewis brought his Newfoundland dog, Seaman. Jefferson had told them to make careful records and maps of their travels and told them to describe all the plants and animals they found. Most of the journey would be made by water so a fifty-five foot barge was built for them. It was called a keelboat. It has sails, twenty oars, ten on each side.

They also had canoes and two pirogues. Pirogues were a type of large rowboat that had sails. One of them had a red sail and the other had a white sail. In the spring of 1804, they had to buy supplies for the trip. Congress gave them $2,500 for their supplies and food, however Lewis bought everything they needed for a little more than $2,000. They did not bring meat or fish because they could hunt for it. Lewis bought surveying equipment, a compass, a quadrant, and a sextant. He also bought clothes for each of the members of the Corps of Discovery. He got each of them an overcoat, shirts, and socks. Lewis also purchased guns and ammunition. Lewis decided to take the standard military amount of liquor; and almost two hundred pounds of dried condensed, portable soup, which could be used in an emergency. Lewis also made sure that they had 3,400 pounds of flour, 560 pounds of biscuits, 750 pounds of salt, coffee, peas, beans, sugar, lard, and candles. Lewis had bought pots and pans, axes, files, drills, and other tools.

He also packed many goods that they could trade with the Indians – colored glass beads; ribbons; needles; knives; fish hooks; calico shirts; scissors; copper kettles; blankets; tobacco; ear and nose trinkets; and etc. Lewis ordered a forty-foot-long boat to be constructed made of iron. It was meant to be able to be carried on land and covered with hides and bark. Clark and the Corps of Discovery left early even though Lewis hadn’t finished buying all of the supplies. They left at four pm on Monday May 14, 1804. They headed west into the mouth of the Missouri River. Lewis caught up to them one week later. They experienced lots rain, intense heat, and lots of mosquitoes as they traveled on the river. On August 18, 1804, they celebrated Lewis’ birthday. On August 20, Sergeant Charles Floyd died from a burst appendix. He was the only person to die on the expedition.

By late November 1804, they started building a fort where they would spend the winter. The fort had log huts, a storage, shed, a sentry box, and a smokehouse. It was surrounded by an eighteen-foot-high stockade fence made of sharp-painted logs. They named it Fort Mandan after the Mandan Indians. During the winter of 1804-1805, the temperature sometimes dropped to almost forty degrees below zero. On November 4, 1804, they met Toussaint Charbonneau. He asked to be an interpreter for the Corps. They agreed. He had two wives but he only brought one, Sacagawea. On February 11, 1805 Sacagawea gave birth to a baby boy. He was named John Baptiste but Clark called him Pomp which meant “little chief” in the Shoshone language. Soon everyone called him Pomp or “Pompy.”

Sacagawea was a Shoshone Indian. She was taken from her tribe when she was a young girl. She lived as a Minnetaree slave for five years. The Minnetarees named her Sacagawea which meant “bird woman.” When she was sixteen years old, Toussaint Charbonneau took her for his wife. Sacagawea was no longer considered to be a Minnetaree slave because she was married. Sacagawea and Charbonneau met the Corps of Discovery about a year after they were married. On April 7 1805, seven soldiers, five boatmen, and an Indian guide headed back down on the Missouri river to deliver cargo to President Jefferson. It would be the first time Jefferson receives information from the Corps. They brought back reports, letters, maps, charts, rocks, plants, fur robes, Indian tools and weapons, animal skeletons, antlers, and horns. They also brought a live prairie dog and magpie.

On April 7, 1805, the Corps left Fort Mandan and headed west on the Missouri River. One day while they were sailing on the Missouri river, they got caught in a storm. The white pirogue turned over and all the journals and equipment fell into the river. Sacagawea managed to stay calm and gather most of their things. It took one whole day to dry out their things. They kept heading west until they arrived at the point where the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers meet. They went down the Yellowstone river because they knew that it would lead to the Columbia river and then to the Pacific ocean. They came to another fork on the river and didn’t know which way to go. Lewis and Clark explored both forks while the rest of the Corps rested. After five days, Lewis and Clark decided to take the south fork. Luckily, it was the right choice. They hid their red pirogue and buried their dried food, supplies, and gunpowder in a pit called a cache. They would pick up the supplies back on their return trip.

On June 10, 1805, Lewis and four other men went to the Great Falls. Clark and the other Corps members caught up with them six days later. They hid the white pirogue and buried their supplies that they wouldn’t need until their return trip. They had to carry boats and supplies up steep paths around the falls. It took eleven days. The special iron-frame canoe that Lewis bought didn’t work and fell apart. Lewis decided to sink it in the river. One day, Clark, Sacagawea, Pomp, and Charbonneau took a walk above the falls. They got caught up in a storm and hail fell. They hid for shelter but then a flash flood came towards them. Clark helped them climb to safety and saved their lives.18

The Corps kept traveling until they reached Montana’s Three Forks, which is where the Missouri river began. For a week they traveled up one of the Three Forks that they’d named the Jefferson river. Lewis selected three of the Corps’ members and they went to find the Shoshone Indians. They found the Shoshones and then returned to the rest of the Corps. They made a camp on the Beaverhead river which they named Camp Fortunate because of their good fortune in finding the Shoshones. Sacagawea helped translate Shoshone for Lewis and Clark. When they found the Shoshone Indians, Sacagawea was reunited with her brother, Cameahwait, who was the chief of the tribe. The Corps traded many things with them. They traded for twenty-nine horses and a mule. They could now cross the Rocky Mountains on horseback. The Corps buried their supplies and sank their canoes in a fork of the Jefferson river. They would pick up that stuff when they return.

On August 30, 1805, they left the Shoshones and headed on their journey towards the ocean. Sacagawea’s brother ordered a Shoshone man, Old Toby, and his four sons to guide them through the Rocky Mountains. They traveled in extreme weather such as rain, hail, and snow. The air was thin at the high elevation. Their guide, Old Toby, got lost and led the Corps three miles in the wrong direction. They went out to hunt one day and met the Walla Walla Native Americans. The Walla Wallas fed them and gave them meat to bring back to the others. Crossing the Rocky Mountains was the worst and hardest part of their journey. They had to make five new canoes so that they could travel out on the Clearwater river. They met a few friendly Native Americans along the way. They thought that since Sacagawea was with them that they were peaceful. In mid-October, they left the Clearwater river and headed down the Snake river. They were guided by two Nez Perce chiefs. They left their horses with the tribe for until they return.

The Corps went down the Snake river for a week. They faced many challenges like rapids and leaking canoes. Sometimes their canoes overturned and they lost many belongings. They sometimes had to eat dog meat stew except Sacagawea. As a Shoshone Indian, she would not eat dog meat. They switched from the Snake river to the Columbia river. The Columbia river would lead directly to the Pacific Ocean. The group would have to face white-water rapids, waterfalls, and whirlpools. They came to a place called Beacon Rock that was a little more than a hundred miles from the Pacific Ocean. They had lots of rain, hail, and gale winds. Almost the whole group was sea sick. After fifty-five miles, the river grew easier to navigate. They stopped on November 10, 1805, to set up camp. The Corps named their camp “Point Distress.” After the bad weather stopped, the Corps headed out on the Columbia river again.

On November 15, the Corps reached the Pacific Ocean. They were all relieved after the weeks of horrible weather. On December 7, 1805, Lewis, Clark, and the rest of the Corps started building a fort where they would stay for the winter. The Clatsop Native Americans sold food to them. Lewis and Clark named the fort Fort Clatsop. The 1805-1806 winter was long, boring, and rainy. The men didn’t have much to do except hunt and make clothing and moccasins out of elk hides. One day, a dead whale washed up on the beach. Lewis and Clark wanted to collect the whale oil for cooking and the whale’s blubber to eat but the Clatsops claimed that the whale was belonged to them. In exchange for the whale’s blubber and oil, they gave the Clatsops guns and ammunition. When Lewis and Clark met the Chinooks, they saw that the chief was wearing an otter skin robe. They wanted it but the chief would only accept blue beads and Lewis and Clark had none left.

Blue beads were prized and called “chief beads.” The Chinook chief saw Sacagawea’s blue beaded belt and said he would trade his robe for her belt. Sacagawea gave up her belt as a way of thanks to Lewis and Clark. Now they just had to wait out the winter until they had to head back east. On March 23, 1806, the Corps started to head back home. This time, they had to paddle against the river’s current. This made the travel slow. Sometimes they walked on the shore and dragged their canoes behind them. Sometimes Chinook Indians would throw stones at them and sneak in at night and steal some of the Corps’ stuff. Lewis and Clark ordered the men to shoot any Chinook that was caught stealing. Conditions on the river grew difficult and the Corps had to continue on foot. On April 24, 1806, Lewis and Clark had the men get rid of their canoes. They traded the valuable things they still had. They traded two cooking pots with the Chinooks for ten-pack horses. The Corps also got twenty-three horses from the Walla Wallas.

Pomp fell sick with a high fever and a badly swollen sore throat. Clark was very fond of him and gave him some medicine. It worked and Pomp got better. The Native Americans heard what happened and word spread that Clark could heal the sick. They all asked to be treated. The Native Americans paid Clark in roots, berries, dogs, and horses in exchange for treatment. The Nez Perce chiefs warned Lewis and Clark not to travel through the Rocky Mountains until they late May snow melted along the Bitterroot Mountains’ Lolo Trail. Lewis and Clark didn’t listen and kept going. The weight of their horses broke through the crust of the snow. The snow was twelve to fifteen feet deep. The Corps realized that there was no grass for the horses and they had to turn back. They started out again nine days later and the snow held their horses weight. They rested along a branch of the Bitterroot River at a camp located in what is now present day Montana. They had named the camp Travellers Rest.

On July 3, the Corps split up into two groups to explore. Lewis, his dog Seaman, and nine other men went on a route alongside the Missouri river. Clark, Sacagawea and Pomp, Charbonneau, York, and eighteen men with forty-nine horses headed south for the Yellowstone River. Clark’s group went back to Camp Fortunate and got the food, supplies, and canoes that they had hidden there. Two days later, they headed out again. They soon got on the Jefferson River. Half of them rode horses and half canoed. On July 13, they reached the Three Forks. Clark, Sacagawea, Charbonneau, Pomp, Clark’s slave York, and eight men were to ride the Yellowstone River with forty-nine horses. The other ten men canoed down the Missouri River to meet Lewis. The Nez Perce guides left them and headed home.

On July 25, they saw a high sandstone bluff. Clark named the bluff Pompy’s Tower but now it is known as Pompeys Pillar. He carved W.Clark and the date July 25, 1806 on the bluff. It is still there today. After four days of riding, the Crow Indians stole twenty-four of their best horses. Clark ordered four men to take the best remaining horses and ride to Fort Mandan. He told them to spread the news that Clark’s group was on their way. Clark, Sacagawea, Pomp, Charbonneau, and the remaining men traveled down the Yellowstone River in canoes. They were supposed to meet Lewis where the Yellowstone flowed into the Missouri River. When Clark arrived, Lewis wasn’t there so he left a note saying that he would meet him at the Great Falls. They continued down the Missouri River. The men who had been sent to Fort Mandan met up with Clark, Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and Pomp.

While Clark and the others were traveling south on the Missouri River, Lewis and three soldiers headed north to pick up the red pirogue. When they found it, the boat was in a horrible condition. They left it behind and continued on horseback. One night, Blackfoot Native Americans stole seven of their best horses and then tried to steal their guns. A battle broke out and some Blackfeet died. Lewis and the others hurried and rode to the Great Falls. They found the White pirogue they had hidden there. On August 11, Lewis and his group started to go down the Missouri River to meet Clark. On the way there, Lewis and another man went elk hunting. The other man’s name was Cruzatte. The other man had horrible eyesight and shot Lewis, who he had mistaken for an elk, in the rear. They reunited with Clark even though Lewis could barely walk. The men had been separated for forty days. On September 23, 1806, the Corps arrived at the camp near St. Louis, where they had spent the winter of 1803-1804.

The settlers there were surprised they were still alive. When Lewis and Clark met with Jefferson, they told him about almost two hundred unknown animals in America and more than one hundred twenty animals unidentified until then. Lewis and Clark learned a lot about the Native Americans and their culture. Sacagawea, Pomp, and Charbonneau left the Corps when they reached the Mandan villages on August 14, 1806. Charbonneau was given $500 and three hundred twenty acres of land for helping the Corps, however Sacagawea was paid nothing for her services. In 1809, Charbonneau and his family moved to St. Louis where Clark lived. They later moved to upper Missouri and Charbonneau sold his land to Clark for $100. Pomp stayed with Clark to receive an education. Charbonneau and Sacagawea were living in South Dakota when Sacagawea died from a disease on December 20, 1812. She was only twenty-five years old. She had just gave birth to a daughter named Lisette.

Lisette and Pomp were legally adopted by Clark. Charbonneau lived to be eighty years old. Pomp died of pneumonia at age sixty-one. In October 1809, Lewis stopped at an in Natchez on his way to Washington. He was found dead with a gunshot the next morning. It is still unknown whether he killed himself or was murdered. Clark was awarded 1,600 acres of land and $1,228 for his two years of service with Corps of Discovery on the expedition. In 1813, he became governor of the Massachusett territory. Clark moved to St. Louis to live with his eldest son after his second wife died. Clark later died there on September 1, 1838. The Expedition of Discovery was a success and a major turning point in history. It discovered all theses species of plants and animals that the United States did not know about. Their expedition helped encourage other settlers to move west. They helped form the United States we know today.