This map documents the expedition’s trek across North America from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. It notes the location of Indian tribes by name and number of “souls,” rivers mapped and named, and the expedition’s winter camps.
Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, National Archives and Records Administration
Map of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1812; Copy by Samuel Lewis of William Clark’s Original Map
Exploring the Continent
Appropriations from Congress funded the exploration of the West. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson ordered Captain Meriwether Lewis to organize a Corps of Discovery and persuaded Congress to fund this expedition charged with finding a water route to the Pacific Ocean and developing trade with the native tribes. Traveling the Missouri and Columbia Rivers and partially overland to the Pacific, they acquired a wealth of information about the geography, geology, flora, fauna, and peoples of the Northwest. After the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France later in 1803, the Corp’s mission was also to chart and report on this newly acquired land that doubled the size of our young nation.
This map documents the expedition’s trek across North America from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. It notes the location of Indian tribes by name and number of “souls,” rivers mapped and named, and the expedition’s winter camps.
Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, National Archives and Records Administration
