READING 1 Travel by Land: The Lewis and Clark Expedition

TRAVEL BY LAND: The LEWIS and CLARK EXPEDITION

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 4.1

Imagine a time when most people in the eastern part of the United States had no idea what was on the other side of the Mississippi River. That was the case at the beginning of the 19th century, when Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States. The nation was only 18 years old then and had about five million people. They were living between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River.

President Jefferson wanted control over the American Indian tribes, who were living throughout the continent. In addition, he wanted to find a land passage to the Pacific Ocean. He was hoping to create a country that went from sea to sea.

Meriwether Lewis was working as an aide to the president at the time. Jefferson appointed1 Lewis and his friend William Clark to lead a dangerous, 33-man expedition2 to the Northwest, through rivers and over the Rocky Mountains.

The expedition left St. Louis in May 1804. As the men were going down the Missouri River, Clark stayed on the boat and drew maps and planned the course. Lewis often stayed on land to study animals and plants. While they were crossing the continent, they met some Indian tribes who were helpful. But they also met some who were hostile3 .

By the time the expedition reached North Dakota, winter was fast approaching. They needed to wait until spring to cross the Rocky Mountains. As they were waiting out the winter, they met a Shoshone4 woman, Sacagawea, and her Canadian husband. With their help, the expedition started the most dangerous part of the journey: crossing the Rocky Mountains. They were going to need horses. Sacagawea helped them get horses from her tribe.

While they were traveling, they faced many hardships: hunger, danger from grizzly bears, bad weather, and uncertainty about their future. Several times, while they were sleeping, their horses were stolen. They had no communication with anyone back east. No one even knew if they were still alive.

In November 1805, tired but successful, they finally made it to the Pacific. When they returned to St. Louis, almost two and a half years later, the people of St. Louis were waiting to greet them. They were heroes.

1 to appoint: to choose somebody to do something 2 expedition: a journey made by a group of people organized and equipped for a special purpose 3 hostile: hateful, angry 4 Shoshone: member of the Shoshone Indians, an American Indian tribe

Sculpture of Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea at Fort Benton, Montana, USA