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Lewis picked as commander of expedition.
This is important because Lewis was picked as the commander because he was friends with Jefferson. Since the expedition was run by Jefferson, he was the obvious choice since he and Lewis were close friends and Lewis had experience. -
Expedition Begins
This is important because it marks the start of the expedition. It is necessary to know when the expedition started because you can tell how long it took them to get to each point on the journey. -
All of the men attempt to drown a never before seen prairie dog out of its hole for shipment back to Jefferson.
This is important because the main goals of the journey were to discover new land, find new species and map out where they are going in detail. They had never seen a prairie dog before so this was new to them and allowed them to check off one piece of their goal early on in the expedition. -
Toussaint Charbonneau, a French Canadian fur trapper living with the Hidatsas, is hired as an interpreter. His wife, Sacagewea, a Shoshone who had beencaptured by the Hidatsas and sold to Charbonneau, is also considered helpful as the Shoshones are said t
While where they are, the people on the journey meet the Shoshones and they are guided by them on the area and type of land. They learn a lot from them and meet Sacagewea who becomes known by people later for being a part of this expedition. -
Fort Mandan completed, expedition moves in for the winter
This helped the explorers because they didnt have to continue on foot, and could take a break in shelter to re-coop everyone togther. This would also help track their findings and map out where they were headed. -
Lewis and Clark send the keelboat and approx. a dozen men back downriver, with maps, reports, Indian artifacts and other scientific specimens for Jefferson. The remaining party heads west.
The main goals of the expedition is to discover new specimens and mark where they go. At this point in the journey, the men gather together many different pieces of newly discovered history that they give to the Jefferson, completing more and more of their goal. -
Lewis and another hunter kill a large grizzly bear, which has never before been described for science.
By killing this grizzly bear, the men had now recorded something that no one had ever heard about. They now knew what it was like and that this was something men could be capable of doing. This is discovering new aspects of America, a main goal of the expedition. -
Scouting ahead of the rest of the expedition, Leiws comes across the Great Falls of the Missouri. He also discovers four more waterfalls farther upstream. The expedition will have to portage over eighteen miles, taking nearly a month, to get past them.
Discovering these waterfalls was something first done by Lewis, for no one had ever been there. If they had been they had not recorded it so it was considered not to be discovered. This was part of the requirements of the expedition, so it was recorded and sent to Jefferson, -
Lewis duiscoers a village of Shoshones and tries to negotiate for horses. Clark and the rest of the expedition arrives as well, and it is discovered that the Shoshone chief Cameahwait is Sacagewea;s brother. Lewis and Clark name the site Camp Fortunate.
The men discover this site of Shoshones because they are in need of new horses for their journey. As they are trying to negotiate they realize that the cheif is Sacageweas brother. This is important because the men realize that they have brought together two distant members of a family and Sacagewea is an important part of the expedition. It also marks that Sacagewea will stay and not continue. -
Clark, who believes he can see the ocean writes his most famous journal entry: "Ocian in view! O! the joy." The expedition is actually still 20 miles from the sea. Terrible storms halt the expedition for nearly 3 weeks.
This is important because the men's journey is almost over. They are close to the sea. It is something recorded that every one knows about so it marked history very well. Horrible storms halted the men but they got to continue on before the winter, preventing their journey from being longer than it needed to be, -
By majority vote the expedition decides to cross the south side of the Colombia River to build winter quarters
This is important because it was the first time in recorded history that a woman and a black man could vote and that their opinion had mattered in a vote. Woman's rights didnt happen until later on. -
Fort Clatsop is presented to the Clatsop Indian, for which it was named, and the expedition begins the journey home
They had completed their journey and were now headed home. With their new map and Sacagewa's help, they now found it easier to go back home. The journey took 6 months to get back home, and they had brought Sacagewa and her son back before they got back to St.Louis. Their expedition has been a success. -
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With the current of the Missouri behind them, they are able to cover over 70 miles per day. The expedition also begins meeting boats of American traders heading upriver.
This is important because it shows that they were headed in the right direction because many of these men were trading and from the U.S. This could have given them information as to where they could head in case they were lost. -
Lewis and Clark reach St.Louis
This is important because they had finally completed their expedition and had returned home. It was a success because they had aquired alot of things to show for their long and excrutiating journey and had come back heroes. Only two people had died on their journey -
Lewis and Clark are treated as national heroes. They return to Washington, D.C. The men recieve double pay and 320 acres of land as reward, the captains get 1,600 acres. Lewis is named govenor of the Louisiana Territory, Clark is made Indian agent for the
Their expedition was a success and they were given many awards for completing a task that no one else had done. This was a huge scientific discovery for all and they were given land for their accomplishments
