On July 30 they held their first powwow, or meeting, with Indians at a place the explorers named Council Bluff. On May 14, 1804, the explorers started up the Missouri. The party consisted of the two leaders, Lewis and Clark 14 soldiers nine frontiersmen from Kentucky two French boatmen and Clark’s servant, York. In the winter of 1803-04 the expedition was assembled in Illinois, near St. Clark joined him at Clarksville, Ind., across from Louisville, Ky. Then he oversaw the construction of his specially-designed 55-foot keelboat and floated it down the Ohio River. First he picked up arms at the government arsenal at Harper’s Ferry. on his historic western journey on July 5, 1803, but ahead lay almost a year’s worth of preparation. The party was to ascend the Missouri to its source, cross the Continental Divide, and descend the Columbia River to its mouth. The route of the expedition was carefully planned. In preparation for the historic journey, Lewis studied map making and learned how to fix latitude and longitude. Little was known about western America before Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. However, the expedition’s objectives were broader they were partly scientific, partly to open diplomatic relations with Indian tribes, and partly to evaluate the land for future settlement. In commissioning Lewis, on June 20, 1803, Jefferson wrote to him as “Captain of the first regiment of Infantry of the United States of America,” and said “The Object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river & such principal stream of it as by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river, may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purpose of commerce.” Both were familiar with the frontier and with Indians through their service in the army. To head the expedition, Jefferson chose his young secretary, Capt. The consummation of that transaction on Apmeant not that the explorers would remain on American soil their entire trip west, but that they would do so until they crossed the Rocky Mountains rather than the Mississippi River. Indeed, he set about preparing for an exploration even before the opportunity to purchase the Louisiana Territory came along. That the West was foreign territory didn’t bother Jefferson his initial efforts occurred while Louisiana belonged to Spain. For twenty years he had thought about finding a water route to the Pacific Ocean and establishing an American presence beyond the western borders of the United States. The moving force behind the opening of the American West was President Thomas Jefferson.
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