Lewis and Clark expedition | US history | For kids

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Lewis and Clark were a famous duo who travelled across the American north west on a mission from Thomas Jefferson to map it out and claim the territory for the US. They travelled along the rivers, climbed over the Rocky Mountains, and made it all the way to the Pacific. Along the way, they met many indigenous peoples and documented many plants and animals that they had never seen before.

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase and the land under US control doubled. He needed someone to go out and survey the land, explore and see what was out there. Additionally, there was land further west that nobody - that is, no European nation - had claimed, so Jefferson wanted someone to reach the Pacific in order to claim it for them. In 1804, he sent Lewis and Clark out on a wild adventure to do just that. He also hoped they would find some woolly mammoths. He was convinced they'd be out there... (They weren't, woolly mammoths have been extinct for 10,000 years!)

Their journey was long - nearly 2 and a half years - but they kept going and though it was dangerous mad it back in (mostly) one piece. But before they did, they had a few run ins with bears, a few skirmishes with native Americans (who quite understandably didn't trust the group), and Lewis even got shot in the buttocks! By his own crewman, who mistook him for an elk while out hunting for dinner!

Lewis and Clark had a lot of help along the way to complete the expedition. Sacagawea, an indigenous woman, was their guide and translator, and smoothed relations between them and many Native American people. When the river froze and they were stuck in one place in the winter of 1804, they traded for necessary supplies. They finally made it out to the Pacific towards the end of 1805, a year and a half after they first set off!

By the time they returned from their journey, they had travelled 8,000 miles, had written 900,000 words in their diaries, and travelled for 28 months. It was a crazy journey that started US expansion into the west. Unfortunately, they trampled over Native American people culture to do so, and therefore the human cost of this trip is colossal. For right or wrong though, they helped to shape US geography today.

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