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On 23 March 1806 the Lewis and Clark Expedition
began its journey home, having crossed the
western United States.
Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase
in 1803, adding 828,000 square miles of territory
to the United States.
Keen to explore and establish a presence in
the western territory, the President soon
appointed his personal secretary Captain Meriwether
Lewis to lead the specially-established
Corps of Discovery.
Lewis selected his former superior officer,
William Clark, as second in command.
As far as the government was concerned Lewis
was in charge of the expedition, but in practice
the two men shared equal responsibility and
even addressed each other as ‘captain’
throughout their two-year journey to the Pacific
Ocean.
The expedition departed on 14 May 1804 and
the 31 members made their way westward along
the Missouri River.
During the journey they made contact with
more than twenty different native groups and
identified dozens of previously unknown botanical
specimens.
Having crossed the Rocky Mountains and reached
the Columbia River, the Pacific Ocean was
sighted on 7 November 1805.
After reaching its shores two weeks later,
the expedition constructed Fort Clatsop to
establish an American presence at the mouth
of the Columbia River and provide shelter
during the bitter winter.
After enduring a difficult few months characterised
by illness and hunger, the expedition began
the return journey on 23 March 1806.
They arrived back in St. Louis on 23 September
having lost just one member of the party.
Lewis and Clark later travelled to Washington
D.C. where they reported their findings to
Jefferson who gave them double pay and comfortable
government jobs.
