The Lewis and Clark Expedition

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States, bought the Louisiana territory from Napoleon and France for 15 million dollars. This purchase doubled the size of the United States. President Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on an expedition to explore this new territory. In the following assignment, you will learn about the Lewis and Clark expedition, as well as other people who braved the harsh conditions to travel west.

When Lewis and Clark set out on their expedition in 1804, they were left with certain expectations of what they would find. They had access to books and maps the depicted (showed) the interior of the continent. These documents, however, were based mostly on people's imaginations rather than on real knowledge of the land. The land west of Fort Mandan (in present-day North Dakota) to the Columbia River near the Pacific Ocean was unknown (although, of course, Native Americans knew it well).

In this activity, you'll read some of the expedition's journal entries to learn how their expectations matched the reality they discovered.

Answer the following questions in your notebook using complete sentences.

1. What U.S. president bought the Louisiana Territory?
2. Who did he buy it from and how much did it cost?
3. How much bigger did the United States get from the purchase of the Louisiana Territory?
4. What was the purpose of the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

Go West Across America with Lewis and Clark

Background: Travel back in time to 1804-1806. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are leading an expedition to explore the American frontier. Along the way, they'll face challenges and hard choices. Can you help them make the right decisions?

Go west across America with Lewis and Clark
Click on the link above. Copy the sentences in your notebook and write the correct answers as you go west.

5. The expedition departed from Camp Wood with a large supply of __________.
food
paper
film

6. On the journey, the crew got a lot of its food by __________.
trading
farming
shopping

7. Lewis and Clark gave __________ to many tribal chiefs.
money
autographs
gifts

8. Black Buffalo was a Teton Sioux chief. He __________ the crew in September 1804.
saved
attacked
joined

9. Toussaint Charbonneau joined the expedition as an interpreter. His wife, __________, came too.
Pocahontas
Sacagawea
Britney

10. At a fork in the Missouri River, the crew chose to go __________.
home
north
south

11. To get through the Rockies, Lewis and Clark desperately needed __________.
jeeps
horses
canoes

12. Crossing the Bitterroot Mountains, the expedition encountered a __________.
tornado
blizzard
traffic jam

13. The __________ Indians helped the explorers find fish and roots to eat.
Big Mouth
Teton Sioux
Nez Perce

14. After canoeing down the Columbia River, Lewis and Clark reached __________.
the Atlantic Ocean
the Pacific Ocean
Hollywood

Next, Go to Inside the Corps.
15. Sketch the map into your notebook. It doesn't have to be beautiful. Just get the idea of what the country looked like.

Meriwether Lewis
16. When and where was Meriwether Lewis born?
17. What job did President Jefferson give Lewis?
18. What type of things did Lewis have to learn about before the trip? (3rd paragraph)

William Clark
19. What qualities did Clark have that made him a good man to help lead the expedition? (3rd paragraph)

Toussaint Charbonneau
20. Where was Toussaint Charbonneau from and what did he do to make money?
21. What job did Toussaint Charbonneau apply for?
22. Why would this job be important on the expedition?

Sacagawea
23. How old was Sacagawea when she was kidnapped?
24. Who was she sold to?
25. What important job did Sacagawea do on the expedition? (6th paragraph)

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
26. What was his nickname?
27. What did William Clark promise Charbonneau? (8th paragraph)

York
28. Who was York?

Scroll to the bottom of the article.
29. When did York finally receive his freedom?

Seaman
30. Who was Seaman?

Journals (10 points)

Write at least two journal entries as if you were on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. You may write about more than one day. You may also write more than two journals if you would like. Include names and events in your journals. You will want to use the information you have already written about to write your journals.