By Gabriela Paige Steinberg

The Louisiana Purchase was one of the largest real estate deals in history. The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France at a price of $15 million, or approximately four cents an acre. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States and opened up North America to westward expansion.

Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18,1774 and died on October 11,1809.He was born in Charlottesville, Albermarle County Virginia. He spent his childhood in the wilderness and developed a love of hunting and exploring. He served in the army and was neighbors with Thomas Jefferson. He also served President Jefferson as his personal secretary in 1801.

William Clark was born in Caroline County, Virginia on August 1,1770 and died September 1,1838. He was the ninth of ten children and he lived on a farm. When Thomas Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis to explore the west of the Mississippi River, he invited William to join him and he said yes. That’s when the expedition began. William Clark

Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and Clark the following goals: 1.Map the rivers 2.Make friends with the Native Americans 3.Find a Northwest Passage-a route across North America 4.Open the West to trade 5.Find new animals and plants

1 Mariner’s compass 4 tin blowing trumpets 24 iron spoons 2 crayons 6 small paper bells 30 gallons of spirits 6 papers of ink powder 2 pick axes 4 fishing hooks

Lewis and Clark’s trip started in Washington D.C. and zigzags across Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Then it goes through a bunch of states like West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana. Their trip covered 4,600 miles in all.

Sacagawea was born in 1788 and died in what is now called Salmon, Idaho. Sacagawea got married at age 13 to Toussaint Charbonneau. She also was part of the Shoshone tribe. When Lewis and Clark brought her aboard the expedition, she was pregnant. She named her baby Jean Baptiste. She was a big part and help to the expedition.

Animals: Desert Cottontail McCown’s Longspur Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle Plants: Maiden Blue-Eyed Mary Chocolate Lily Long-Tailed Wild Ginger

The greatest distance traveled in one day was 50 miles when they were on a river going downstream.

One day, Lewis and Pierre Cruzatte went hunting for buffalo. Pierre thought Lewis was a buffalo, so he shot him in the butt. “Ow!” he said “Pierre, why did you shoot me in my rear end?” The bullet went through his butt’s cheeks, but he still survived.

During the Expedition, Seaman, (Lewis’s black Newfoundland dog) saw a big beaver, so the men told Seaman to kill it. When Seaman tried to get it, the beaver scratched Seaman’s hind leg with his buck teeth. Seaman got hurt, but Sacagawea healed him.

The Expedition took 2 years, 4 months, and 10 days. Approximately, Lewis and Clark discovered 178 plants and 122 animals. The Corps of Discovery, Sacagawea, and Seaman made it across the interior of the United States. It was an amazing journey that no one will forget.

The End!