WESTWARD EXPANSION Expeditions to explore the Louisiana Purchase

WESTWARD EXPANSION Now that the United States has an established government they turn their focus to expanding the country. At the time, the “West” was thought of as the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE WHO: WHAT: (amount offered) (What did it do for America?) WHERE: WHEN: WHY:

Expeditions to Explore our New Land Lewis and Clark Expedition – northern route to explore Louisiana Purchase Zebulon Pike – southern route to explore Louisiana Purchase

LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION May September 1806

Who were Lewis and Clark? Read the biography of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to answer the following questions: 1.Why did Thomas Jefferson select Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition to explore the Louisiana territory? 2.Why do you think Lewis and Clark made such a strong team? Provide textual evidence to support.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition Jefferson wanted to find a water route across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson asked Congress for $2,500 to finance the expedition. The explorers were asked to gathered new information about the West, its people, animals, geography, vegetation, rivers and lakes. The explorers described in detail the Missouri and Columbia rivers, and the Indians who lived along their shores. Members of Expedition: Lewis and Clark and 43 men( mostly soldiers) were known as the Corps of Discovery.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition Lewis and Clark were accompanied by a fifteen-year-old Shoshone Indian woman, Sacagawea, the wife of a French- Canadian fur trader who was part of the expedition. She served as an interpreter and helped ease tensions between the explorers and Native American tribes. Sacagawea recognized landmarks and knew the Shoshone tribe was close. Her brother was a Shoshone chief, and the explorers traded goods with the Natives for horses in order to cross the Rocky Mountains.

“ ”The Mountains we found this day were very tough, and Rocks, which appear above the timber like Towers…” Joseph Whitehouse Sept. 13, 1805

“We are in view of the Ocian, this great Pacific Octean which we have been So long anxious to see.” William Clark November 7, 1805

Impact The expedition recorded more than 200 plants and animals that were new to science, detailed the prospect of farming in the area, and noted at least 72 native tribes. The explorers described in detail the Missouri and Columbia rivers, and the Indians who lived along their shores. The maps that were produced allowed for the further discovery and settlement of the new territory. They noted significant geographic features, made detailed route maps, and recorded their observations of longitude and latitude. Influenced the movement of settlers westward and the eventual increase in the fur trade industry. To the Native Americans, it was the beginning of an end. Their lives will be changed forever by their contact with the fur traders, soldiers, and missionaries that follow in the wake of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Exhibit

ZEBULON PIKE EXPEDITION July 15, 1806 – July 1, 1807

The Expedition 20 soldiers led by Pike were sent to search the southern areas of the Louisiana Purchase in order to map the terrain. Upon crossing the Great Plains, Pike wrote, "This vast plains of the western hemisphere may become in time as celebrated as the sandy deserts of Africa; for I saw in my route, in various places, tracts of many leagues where the wind had thrown up the sand in all the fanciful form of the ocean's rolling wave, and on which not a speck of vegetable matter existed.“ On November 15, Pike recorded the first sight of the distant mountain he called "Grand Peak”, now known as Pike’s Peak in Colorado. His group was unable to cross the 14, 000 foot summit. They reached the Royal Gorge at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

Pike was captured! After traveling to lower ground along various rivers, the group reached the Rio Grande in present day- southern Colorado. He thought the Rio Grande was the Red River and set up a fort on Spanish territory. Soon after, the Spanish arrested Pike and his group near present-day New Mexico.

Pike’s Peak