The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Pacific Ocean, “. . . the object of all our labours, the reward of all our anxieties . . .” at the mouth of the Columbia River in November 1805. After Meriwether Lewis’s death in 1809, William Clark and others completed the official report, based on the expedition journals. Published in 1814, this report to Congress made public a vast body of information about the Northwest.
Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, Volumes 1 and 2, 1814
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.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Pacific Ocean, “. . . the object of all our labours, the reward of all our anxieties . . .” at the mouth of the Columbia River in November 1805. After Meriwether Lewis’s death in 1809, William Clark and others completed the official report, based on the expedition journals. Published in 1814, this report to Congress made public a vast body of information about the Northwest.
Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
