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Lewis and Clark timeline
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Thomas Jefferson plans the trip
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery, and named U.S. Army Captain Meriwether Lewis its leader, who selected William Clark as his partner. In 1803 Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's Corps of Discovery to find a water route to the Pacific and explore the uncharted West. -
They left on a ship.
They left on May 14, 1804, and met up with Lewis in Saint Charles, Missouri, a short time later; the corps followed the Missouri River westward. -
Sergeant Charles Floyd died
On August 20, 1804, Sergeant Charles Floyd died, apparently from acute appendicitis. He was buried at Floyd's Bluff, in what is now Sioux City, Iowa. During the final week of August, Lewis and Clark reached the edge of the Great Plains, a place abounding with elk, deer, bison, and beavers. -
the party built Fort Mandan
In the winter of 1804–05, the party built Fort Mandan, near present-day Washburn, North Dakota. -
the corps turned home
The expedition faced its second bitter winter, and vote on whether to camp on the south side of the Columbia river (modern Astoria, Oregon), building Fort Clatsop. The Corps turned home on March 23, 1806, using by canoes, and later by land -
Corps splits in to two.
On July 3, after crossing the Continental Divide, the Corps split into two teams so Lewis could explore the Marias River. Lewis' group of four met some men from the Blackfeet nation. During the night, the Blackfeet tried to steal their weapons. In the struggle, the soldiers killed two Blackfeet men
