Understanding the Expedition: The Lewis and Clark Expedition is a complex event in American history often seen from different vantage points that emphasize different themes.

Jefferson's Idea: Jefferson embraced the Enlightenment’s faith in rational thought and empirical inquiry and shared its fascination with discovery.

Northwest Passage: The ongoing search for the Northwest Passage stirred Jefferson’s interest in western exploration.

Jefferson's Instructions: Jefferson’s message to Lewis was clear: the object of the mission was to explore and establish the most “direct and practical” course across the continent “for the purposes of commerce.”

Ethnographers: Jefferson believed that strong trade and political alliances with Indian nations would lead to coverting tribal cultures to agricultural communities.

Louisiana Purchase: The American purchase of Louisiana Territory reflected Jefferson’s concern about the immediate future of the nation’s western territories and his imperial vision that included settling lands west of the Mississippi.

Into the New Territory: Difficulties of travel aside, the Expedition captains focused their effort on Jefferson's desire for strong relations with the Indian nations.

Mandan Villages: The Corps established Fort Mandan at the Mandan Villages and spent the winter of 1804-1805 planning their exporation of the upper Mississippi.

Across the Plains: Through most of their trip up the Missouri River the Corps saw no Indians and few signs of activity.

Into the Oregon Country: Crossing the Continental Divide in late summer 1805, Meriwether Lewis witnessed a forbidding landscape of mountains stretching far into the distance.

Encounter with the Nez Perce: Unlike the buffalo-hunting tribes on the Plains, Columbia River Basin groups mixed hunting, fishing, and gathering for sustenance and lived along rivers and in seasonal upland camps.

Down the Columbia: Lewis & Clark brought the same message to the headmen on the Columbia River as they had on the Missouri: alliance with America translated into trade and peace.

An Inhabited Land: Entering the Columbia River Gorge, the Corps of Discovery found one of the most densely populated regions in indigenous North America.

Ocean in View: The Columbia estuary presented the Corps of Discovery with physically demanding and threatening conditions. 

On the Coast: Captain Clark referred to the Expedition’s Pacific winter quarters as “the most eligable Situation for our purposes of any in its neighborhood.”

Stealing a Canoe: In their haste to leave the Pacific Coast, Corps members violated one of their fundamental rules before leaving: they stole a Clatsop canoe for their upriver journey.

Up the Columbia: On the return trip up the Columbia, the Corps of Discovery encountered the Willamette River and deemed it of sufficient size for commercial-sized ships.   

Back with the Nez Perce: Expedition leaders believed that the Nez Perce could play a significant role as U.S. ally in the on-going territorial battle with Great Britain. 

Homeward Bound: Leaving Traveler’s Rest the Corps split into two groups in order to better explore the geography of the Missouri River watershed with a eye toward compiling a natural resources inventory.

Fatal Encounter: A skirmish between the Piegan Blackfeet and the Corps of Discovery at the Marias River over the firearms trade produced the only violent deaths on the Expedition.

The Return Home: On the main point of their Expedition, Lewis & Clark succeeded in tracing a route westward along the principal rivers to the Pacific and established contact with a variety of Indian nations.

After the Expedition: The story of the Lewis & Clark Expedition did not end with their return.

Clark, Pomp, York, & Sacagawea: Several Corps members remained a part of the American West after the Expedition disbanded in 1806. 

Columbia Legacies: The Lewis & Clark Expedition instigated enormous changes to the Columbia River Basin over the following two centuries.