[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHRISTOPHER ALAN GORDON] This is the point, the actual location, where Lewis and Clark launched the
Corps of Discovery back in May of 1804. So this
is a very historic site. St. Charles was
a small village at that time. It was the
point where this was the last place
where they could actually gather some
supplies, do some last-minute business.
For two long years they made their
way through the American West, over the
Great Plains, over the Rockies. They found the Columbia and made it all the way to
the Pacific Ocean and then turned around
and came back. So this is an exciting
place to be. It was both the beginning and
the end of the Corps of Discovery.
But it was much more than that. It was
really the beginning of westward
expansion in the United States and
opening up the American West.
[VOICEOVER] We invite you to visit the Missouri History Museum and view "Trails West," an exhibit that
tells the history of westward expansion
as seen from the unique vantage point of
St. Louis, the Gateway to the West.
