The Corps of Discovery By: Bhaamati B.

The Lewis and Clark Mission I bet you have heard about Lewis and Clark. They were the men chosen by Thomas Jefferson to go explore the west and see if there really was a western route to the Pacific Ocean. Well technically Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis and Lewis chose William Clark who was a rather experienced man. As we know today, there is no western route to the Pacific Ocean so of course, Lewis and Clark didn’t find what they were looking for. Instead the found a whole world of diversity as the spread the message that the land they were traveling on was the American land. The land had been purchased during the Louisiana Purchase from France by Jefferson as he continues on his quest to help our United States expand west.

The Corps of Discovery Was the Corps of Discovery the death of discovery? Was it department of research? Or was it a type of innovation? The Corps of Discovery was the volunteer group that carried out the Lewis and Clark Mission. The members were hand-picked and trained by Lewis and Clark. This group included people like Sacagawea and York. Let’s not forget Seaman; Captain Lewis’s Newfoundland. The Corps of Discovery strived to travel along the Missouri River and find a Northwest Passage toward the Pacific Ocean. They together made the discoveries that are written down today as fact. They made truces with the Native Americans and made America what it is today. They increased America’s knowledge about its own land. This mission was put on Meriwether Lewis’s and William Clark’s shoulders by our US President Thomas Jefferson. So let’s read more about them and the members of the Corps of Discovery.

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774 in Albemarle County Virginia. His mother was widowed when he was only five years old leaving the poor woman to take care of their plantations and eventually his mother remarried. His stepfather died when he was eighteen and he was forced to come back to the plantations to help out. In 1794, Meriwether Lewis enlisted in the military. He was raised to a rank of a captain in One year later, he was made private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson believed in the Manifest Destiny or in the belief that America should expand westward. Besides that, he wanted to know if a western route to the Pacific Ocean existed. He instructed Lewis to carry out a mission westward to see if there was a western route toward the Pacific Ocean; the United States government paid for the whole expedition. They put the Corps of Discovery together. On the way of the expedition; they were to record the different types of animals and plants they saw while also socializing with the Native Americans. Meriwether Lewis was the one who invited William Clark on the expedition and they decided to lead the mission together. He played a role as the botanist and biologist during the mission. Lewis was made the governor of the Louisiana Territory in 1807 as a reward for completing the mission. Lewis died in 1809; the reason or circumstance of his death are unknown. Some say he committed suicide while others say that he was killed; evidence leads on suicide and it was said that even on the expedition he possessed a poignant nature. Source:

William Clark William Clark was born on August 1, 1770 in Caroline County Virginia. He was the brother of George Rogers Clark; who was a Revolutionary War battle hero. As we all know he led the Corps of Discovery alongside Lewis. The Corps of Discovery started the expedition at a camp near St. Louis up the Missouri River. He was responsible for recording much of the journey and was able to indentify the native flora and fauna. Clark was a great mapmaker and obviously he was the one left with the job of mapping the area they covered. The Corps turned back on the March of 1806 after the eventful journey and reached home (St. Louis) on the September of One fun fact about the journey was that the Corps returned home the way that they had went on the expedition; altogether they had traveled 8,000 miles. Meriwether Lewis died in 1809 and so Clark was obviously entrusted the job of presenting their accumulated research on the westward area. He held many public offices to explain the journals of the expedition and shed some insight on the journey. Many people don’t know about the Clark’s toiling over keeping the peace with American Indians. If not for his measure the Native Americans would have rebelled in great casualties during the Westward Expansion. He had a gentlemanly nature and despite his slight glitch in not having received a formal education he was a talented man whose picture has been pasted on history. Source: k.htm

Sacagawea Everyone has heard of the famous Sacagawea; she is on the dollar coin. Who was she? Why does she receive so much respect? She was an important member of the Corps of Discovery; the wife of Charbonneau Toussaint. She was born into a Shoshone tribe near Three Forks Montana and she was engaged to a man at a early age. She was then kidnapped in 1800 by the Hidatsa tribe and she grew up with their culture and customs. “Sacagawea” means Bird Woman in the Hidatsa tongue. She married the Fur Trapper, Charbonneau Toussaint, at the age of sixteen. Toussaint had also been married to another Shoshone woman; he had bought both woman from the Hidatsa as slaves. Sacagawea was pregnant with Jean Baptiste Charbonneau when Toussaint was chosen as the translator of the Corps of Discovery because of Sacagawea and her precious talent of being able to speak in the Shoshone tongue. Sacagawea carried her son throughout the entire trip after he was born on February 11, Sacagawea served as a peace symbol with her child. It is a misconception that Sacagawea served as a guide but her ability as a translator made up for it. Sacagawea had an important role in the accomplishments of the Corps of Discovery and is therefore remembered and revered. Source:

Charbonneau Toussaint Toussaint was the French Fur Trapper who was chosen as a translator for the mission since he could speak Hidatsa, French, and wavering English. The main reason he was chosen for the job was because both of his wives spoke Shoshone and a Shoshone translator was vital to the mission. Toussaint was horrible at maneuvering the boats and almost overturned the boat after the Corps left Fort Mandan. He once overturned a boat and escaped but lost all the cargo. He nearly let Sacagawea drown at the flash flood in the Great Falls of the Missouri River. In short he was given the role as a translator in the Corps of Discovery with his wife. He outlived all of the other members of the Corps of Discovery even though he was one of the oldest people in it. Source: article.asp?ArticleID=2664http://lewis-clark.org/content/content- article.asp?ArticleID=2664

York York was William Clark’s slave and Clark brought York along with him on the mission as a member of the Corps of Discovery but not as an equal. It is said that Clark brought York along to care for his shaky health. York was abused as all slaves are and evidence is in the journals. The Native Americans on the other hand were intrigued by him because of his unique skin color. Some American Indians actually thought that York was a god. They tried to rub the paint that wasn’t there off and they even mistaked York for a Bear. Basically York was another person that helped with socializing with the Native Americans and worked as another man of the crew but a man open to abuse. Source:

John Colter Colter was born in the year of 1774 in Virginia. He was selected be Lewis and Clark as one of the “nine young men from Kentucky.” He was a fur trapper. He was known as the fearless mountain man. He had took leave of Captain Lewis at the headwaters of the Missouri where there were many signs of beaver. The conflict was that, the place where he stayed was populated by the Blackfoot tribe which held a grudge against white men ever since Lewis had shot one of their tribe. Despite this Colter went onto the Blackfoot hunting grounds and got captured but escaped. He was a member of the Corps, the whole journey westward. Source: JohnColter.htmlhttp:// JohnColter.html

Toussaint Charbonneau Sacagawea Meriwether Lewis William Clark York John Colter

What the Corps Carried with Them 150 Yards (140 meters) of cloth to be oiled and sewn into tents and sheets 6 Large needles Pliers Chisels Handsaws Oilskin bags 25 Hatchets Whetstones 30 Steels for striking or making fire Iron corn mill 2 Dozen tablespoons Mosquito curtains 10.5 Pounds (5 kilograms) of fishing hooks and fishing lines 12 Pounds (5.4 kilograms) of soap 193 Pounds (87.5 kilograms) of "portable soup" (a thick paste concocted by boiling down beef, eggs, and vegetables, to be used if no other food was available on the trail) 3 Bushels (106 liters) of salt Writing paper, ink and crayons Camping Equipment 15 Prototype Model 1803 muzzle-loading.54- caliber rifles "Kentucky Rifles" 15 Gun slings 24 Large knives Powder horns 500 Rifle flints 420 Pounds (191 kilograms) of sheet lead for bullets 176 Pounds (80 kilograms) of gunpowder packed in 52 lead canisters 1 Long-barreled rifle that fired its bullet with compressed air, rather than by flint, spark, and powder Weapons Source: The Louisiana Purchase Power-Point of Cicero

What the Corps also Carried Source: The Louisiana Purchase Power-Point of Cicero 12 Dozen pocket mirrors 4,600 Sewing needles 144 Small scissors 10 Pounds of sewing thread Silk ribbons Ivory combs Handkerchiefs Yards of bright-colored cloth 130 Rolls of tobacco Tomahawks that doubled as pipes 288 Knives 8 Brass kettles Vermilion face paint 20 Pounds of assorted beads, mostly blue 5 Pounds of small, white, glass beads 288 Brass thimbles Armbands Ear trinkets 45 Flannel shirts 20 Coats 15 Frocks Shoes Woolen pants 15 Blankets Knapsacks 30 Stockings 15 Pairs wool overalls Presents for Native Americans Clothing 50 Dozen Dr. Rush's patented "Rush's Thunderclapper" pills Lancets Forceps Syringes Tourniquets 1,300 Doses of physic 1,100 Doses of emetic 3,500 Doses of diaphoretic (sweat inducer) Additional drugs Medicine

How they traveled  They used one keel boat that Lewis had specifically made.  He also bought with him a collapsible boat.  They walked quite a part of the journey.  They also traded with the Native Americans for horses; Sacagawea helped communicate with the Shoshone for horses.

The Things the Lewis and Clark Discovered  Other than the main purpose of the expedition, Lewis and Clark were also to record the animals and plants they found on the way westward. They found many new never-before seen species.

These are two maps of the route that the Corps of Discovery took on there journey.