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The Journey Begins
The group undergoing the expedition, The Corps of Discovery, leaves Camp Dubois at St. Louis, Missouri. This officially starts the expedition. They travel in three boats, making 14 miles of progress on good days. Picture: Portraits by Charles Willson Peale of the leaders of the expedition. -
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The Lewis and Clark Expedition
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Death of Sergeant Floyd
Sergeant Charles Floyd dies of what is today assumed to have been a burst appendix. He is the first and only member of the expedition to die on the journey. His fellow expedition members bury him on a hilltop now called Floyd's Bluff. Picture:This picture is of the Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa. -
Prairie Dog
While traveling on the Great Plain, the Corps of Discovery encounters several animals that were previously unknown to the U.S. One of these animals is the prairie dog, and on this day the entire party of men is enlisted to help drown one out of its hole. They are successful and send the animal, along with other animals and research, to President Jefferson. When he recieves the shipment the following summer, the prairie dog is still alive and is sent to a natural science museum. -
Troubles with the Teton Sioux
The Corps meet with the Teton Sioux Native American tribe. Unfortunately, the Corps are viewed as competition for control of the region's trade. Tensions stay high for the three days the expedition stays with the Native Americans, almost resulting in armed conflict twice. Picture: Sitting Bull, a chief of the Lakota, another Sioux tribe -
Meeting the Mandan
PBS information on the Mandan The Corps arrives at the villages of the Hidatsa and Mandan tribes. Throughout the following winter the Corps and the Mandan maintain rather good relations. They actively trade with one another and go buffalo hunting together in January of 1805. Picture: Aquatint by Karl Bodmer depicting the inside of a Mandan cheif's hut. -
Fort Mandan
The expedition's Fort Mandan is declared complete and the expedition moves in to wait out the winter. Many expedition members end up getting frostbite because of the freezing temperatures. In January of 1805, Meriwether Lewis amputates the toes of another frostbite victim, a Native American boy. -
Birth of Jean Baptiste
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau is born at Fort Mandan. His parents are Sacagawea, a Native American woman who is vital to the expedition's success, and Toussaint Charbonneau, a fur trader. After Jean Baptiste's birth Sacagawea stays in the expedition, carrying her infant son on her back. Clark becomes extremely fond of the baby and nicknames him "Little Pomp." Picture: a statue by Leonard Crunelle depicting Sacagawea and her son, at the North Dakota State Capitol. -
Waterfalls
Lewis discovers the Great Falls of Missouri and four other waterfalls. The expedition takes almost a month to travel eighteen and a half miles around the waterfalls. Although carrying all their supplies proves to be difficult because of obstacles like hail storms and cacti, the Corps members are assisted by carts they built from cottonwoods.
Picture: Photo of the Black Eagle Falls and Dam, part of The Great Falls of the Missouri River. -
York Falls Ill
PBS information on York
York, Clark's slave, falls ill. Clark administers a medicine or herb, and Lewis later reports York feeling better that evening. According to PBS, York was healthy for most of the expedition. Picture: Statue of York by Ed Hamilton in Louisville, Kentucky -
Seaman Captures a Deer
One of the men on the expedition shoots a deer, wounding it. The deer runs into the river but is pursued by Lewis's dog Seaman. Seaman successfully captures the deer, kills it, and faithfully drags it back to camp. Picture: A statue depicting York and Seaman in Kansas City, Missouri. -
Meeting the Shoshone
Lewis and three other expedition members meet a few Shoshone women who are out gathering food. Although the women are afraid of the white men at first, Lewis and his men convince them that they have nothing to fear. After the Shoshone cheif welcomes the men they are treated as guests by the tribe. Picture: Shoshone beaded moccasins -
Family Reunion
Amidst negotiations with a tribe of Shoshone for horses (vital to crossing the Bitterroot Mountains), Sacagawea is brought in to act as interpreter. She joyfully recognizes the cheif of the tribe as her brother. Sacagawea was in fact a Shoshone who had been kidnapped by Hidatsas when she was a child. The cheif, Cameahait, agrees to give the expedition members the horses they need. Picture: A statue titled "Sacagawea" by Alice Cooper, at the Washington Park in Portland, Oregon -
Leaving the Bitterroots
The Corps comes out of the Bitterroot Mountains near what is now Weippe, Idaho. The expedition had been in these mountains for the past eleven days. During that time food supplies had grown so low that they were forced to slaughter a horse for food. Conditions were so bad that Clark named a stream they came accross Hungry Creek. Picture: Trapper Peak, a mountain in the Bitterroots. -
Christmas Day
Timeline at PBS
The expedition celebrates Christmas at Fort Clatsop. This fort in present-day Oregon was their home during the 1805-1806 winter. Christmas presents include tobacco and hankercheifs. Picture: Modern-day replica of Fort Clatsop http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/archive/1805.html -
Rain and Lots of It
The 1805-1806 winter proves to be extremely rainy. Journal entries from the expedition members record that it rained all but twelve days that season. The Corps members, including Lewis on January 1st, write of their homesickness and boredom.
Picture: Circa 1955 photo of an almost-completed replica of Fort Clatsop, where the Corps of Discovery stayed during this winter. -
Bloodshed
Blackfeet Indians information at PBS On the 26th, Lewis spots a band of eight Blackfeet warriors, and the two parties camp together for the night. Expedition members catch the warriors trying to steal guns early the next morning. During the following fight, two Blackfeet warriors are killed, one each by Reuben Field and Meriwether Lewis. Picture: A painting by Karl Bodmer, painted from real life, depicting a Blackfoot warrior. -
The Journey is Over
Smithsonian.com
On this day, the expedition team enters St. Lous, Missouri. This marks the official end of the expedition. The team had journeyed eight thousand miles over almost two and a half years. The citizens of St. Louis are overjoyed at the Corp's return. Picture: Photo of the St. Louis skyline from 2007
