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History
:: Lewis and Clark, Corps of Discovery
click for E-book online
Achievements
- The
U.S. gained an extensive knowledge
of the geography of the West
in the form of maps of major
rivers and mountain ranges
- Discovered
and described 178 new plants
and 122 species and subspecies
of animals
- Opened
American fur trade in the West
- Paved
the way for peaceful relations
with the Indians
- Established
a precedent for Army exploration
of the West
- Strengthened
the U.S. claim to Oregon Territory
- Focused
U.S. and media attention on
the West
- Produced
the first literature about
the West (the Lewis and Clark
diaries)
Expedition
Members
- Captain
Meriwether Lewis (1774 – 1809)
- Second
Lieutenant William Clark (1770 – 1838)
- York
(ca. 1770 – ?)
Clark's manservant
- Sergeant
Charles Floyd (1782 – 1804)
- Sergeant
Patrick Gass (1771 – 1870)
promoted after Floyd's death
- Sergeant
John Ordway (ca. 1775 – ca.
1817)
- Sergeant
Nathaniel Hale Pryor (1772 – 1831).
- Corporal
Richard Warfington (1777 – ?)
- Private
John Boley (dates unknown)
- Private
William E. Bratton (1778 – 1841)
- Private
John Collins (? – 1823).
- Private
John Colter (ca. 1775 – 1813)
- Private
Pierre Cruzatte (dates unknown)
- Private
John Dame (1784 – ?)
- Private
Joseph Field (ca. 1772 – 1807)
- Private
Reubin Field (ca. 1771 – 1823?)
brothers of Joseph
- Private
Robert Frazer (? – 1837)
- Private
George Gibson (? – 1809)
- Private
Silas Goodrich (dates unknown)
- Private
Hugh Hall (ca. 1772 – ?)
- Private
Thomas Proctor Howard (1779 – ?)
- Private
François Labiche (dates
unknown)
- Private
Hugh McNeal (dates unknown)
- Private
John Newman (ca. 1785 – 1838)
- Private
John Potts (1776 – 1808?)
- Private
Moses B. Reed (dates unknown)
- Private
John Robertson (ca. 1780 – ?)
- Private
George Shannon (1785 – 1836)
- Private
John Shields (1769 – 1809)
- Private
John B. Thompson (dates unknown)
- Private
Ebenezer Tuttle (1773 – ?)
- Private
Peter M. Weiser (1781 – ?)
- Private
William Werner (dates unknown)
- Private
Isaac White (ca. 1774 – ?)
- Private
Joseph Whitehouse (ca. 1775 – ?)
- Private
Alexander Hamilton Willard
(1778 – 1865)
- Private
Richard Windsor (dates unknown)
- Interpreter
Toussaint Charbonneau
- Interpreter
Sacagawea, Charbonneau's
wife
- Jean
Baptiste Charbonneau, Charbonneau's
son
- Interpreter
George Drouillard (? – 1810),
civilian
Popular
histories and documentaries
In
the 1997 Ken Burns documentary Lewis & Clark:
The Journey of the Corps of Discovery,
historian Stephen E. Ambrose, author
of the book Undaunted Courage about
the expedition, compared the significance
and impact of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition to Americans of that
era with the American landing on
the moon for subsequent generations.
The expedition not only answered
questions about vast uncharted
areas of North America (everything
between the Missouri River in North
Dakota to Mount Hood in western
Oregon) but also gave Americans
an electrifying sense of the vastness
of their new country after the
Louisiana Purchase and America's
almost limitless natural resources
and potential as an emergent nation.
He also views the expedition as
a quintessential America saga,
with a cast of characters that
included a French Canadian trapper,
President Thomas Jefferson, the
heroic personalities and camaraderie
of both Captain Lewis and Captain
Clark, a platoon of American soldiers
reminiscent of Roger's Rangers,
the muscular Black American servant
of Clark named York, colorful Indian
tribes (Sioux, Mandans, Nez Perce,
Blackfeet), Captain Lewis' shaggy
dog named Seaman, numerous close
shaves with death for everyone
on the expedition, quick "think-on-your-feet" diplomatic
innovation to defuse hostility
and enlist the support of exotic
tribes, scientific observation
of awe-inspiring naturalistic phenomenon,
a case of close combat with Indians,
encounters with grizzly bears,
harrowing navigation of wild rivers
amidst magnificent scenery, and
a difficult passage through the
snow clad Bitterroot Mountains
of Western Montana and Idaho. Despite
all the trials, tribulations, and
close calls, the expedition did
not lose a person between North
Dakota and Oregon and lost no one
on the return trip. Undaunted
Courage reads like real life
imitating Hollywood, which makes
it all the more surprising that
Hollywood has never made a feature
motion picture about the epic journey.
Further
reading
History
- Lewis
and Clark Among the
Indians,
James P. Ronda, 1984
- Undaunted
Courage,
Stephen Ambrose, 1997
- National
Geographic Guide to
the Lewis & Clark
Trail,
Thomas Schmidt, 2002
- The
Lewis and Clark Journals:
An American Epic of
Discovery (abridged),
edited by Gary E. Moulton,
2003
- The
Journals of the Lewis
and Clark Expedition,
13-Volume Set, edited by Gary
E. Moulton, 2002
- The
complete text of the
Lewis and Clark Journals online
Notable
fiction
Listed
below are a few popular, fictionalalized
historical novels. They have varying
degrees of historical accuracy,
which is unfortunate as they help
form much of the popular American
belief of the expedition.
See
also
- Timeline
of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
- History
of United States
- USS
Lewis and Clark
- A
contemporary explorer was Zebulon
Pike (as in Pikes Peak) who
in 1805-1807 traveled from
the upper Mississippi River
down to the Spanish territories
near the Rocky Mountains
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