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U.S. President Thomas Jefferson sends a message to Congress asking for approval and funding of an expedition to explore the Western part of the continent
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Meriwether Lewis begins his training as the expedition's leader in Philadelphia. He writes Clark to ask him to join him in command. Clark Accepts
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Lewis now had the job of exploring land largly owned by the United States.
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Large keelboat constructed in Pittsburgh, overseen by Lewis. After construction Lewis takes it down the Ohio River picking up Clark and recruits along the way.
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Lewis and Clark establish Camp Wood, the winter camp for their Corps of Discover on the Wood River in Illinois.
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Expedition marks first 4th of July west of the Mississippi by firing the keelboat's cannon, and naming Independence Creek.
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Corps of Discovery meet with representatives of the Oto and Missouri Indians, give peace medals, 15 star flags and other gift
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Charles Floyd dies of a probable burst appendix. Captains name hilltops where he is buried Floyd's Bluff and a nearby stream, Floyd's River.
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All of the men attempt to drown a never-before-seen prarie dog out of its hole for shipment back to Jefferson.
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Confrontation with Teton Sioux, who demand one of the expedition's boats as a toll to travel farther upriver. Chief Black Buffalo resolves situation before any fighting.
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Expedition discovers earthlodge villages of the Mandan and Hidatsas Indians
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Toussaint Charbonneau a fur trapper living with the Hidatsas, is hired as an interpreter. His wife, Sacagawea a Shoshone who had been captured by the Hidatsas and sold to Charbonneau, is also considered helpful as the Shoshones are said to live at the headwaters of the Missouri.
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Fort Mandan completed, expedition moves in for the winter.
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President Jefferson welcomes a delegation of Missouri, Oto, Arikara, and Yankton Sioux chiefs who had met with Lewis and Clark more than a year earlier.
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Sacagawea gives birth to baby boy, Pomp
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Lewis and Clark send the keelboat. and a dozen men back downriver, with maps, reports, Indian artifacts and other scientific specimens for Jefferson. The remaining party heads west.
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Lewis and another hunter kill a large grizzly bear which had never before been described for science
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Clark names the Judith River in honor of a girl back in Virginia he hopes to marry
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Scouting ahead of the rest of the expedition, Lewis comes across the Great Falls of the Missouri
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The expedition reaches the three forks of the Missouri River, and name them the Gallatin, the Madison, and the Jefferson
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Sacagawea recognizes Beaverhead Rock and says they are nearing the headwaters of the Missouri, and her people, the Shoshones. Lewis and three others scout ahead.
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The shipment sent from fort Mandan arrives in the East and is delivered to Jefferson. Lewis ascends the final ridge toward the Continental Divide expecting to see plains and a river flowing to the Pacific, but he finds even more mountains
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Lewis discovers a village of Shoshones and tries to negotiate for horses, it is discovered that the Shoshone chief Cameahwait is Sacagawea's brother. Lewis and Clark name the site Camp Fortunate.
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The expedition sets out with a Shoshone guide called Old Toby, along with 29 horses and a mule.
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The expedition camps at a spot Lewis and Clark called Travelers Rest to prepare for the mountain crossing.
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After nearly starving in the mountains the expedition emerges near present-day Weippe, Idaho
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The expedition reaches the Columbia River
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Clark sees Mount Hood in the distance, named by a British sea captain in 1792, proof that they are near the ocean
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Clark, who believes he can see the ocean writes his most famous journal entry: "Ocian in view! O! the joy." The expedition is actually still 20 miles from the sea. Terrible storms halt the expedition for nearly 3 weeks
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By majority vote the expedition decides to cross to the south side of the Columbia River to build winter quarters.
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President Jefferson welcomes a delegation of Missouri, Oto, Arikara, and Yankton Sioux chiefs who had met with Lewis and Clark more than a year earlier.
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Fort Clatsop is presented to the Clatsop Indian, for which it was named, and the expedition begins the journey home
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The expedition reaches the Bitterroot mountains, but must wait for the snow to melt before crossing them. During this time the expedition again stays with the Nez Perce, Lewis describes them as "the most hospitable, honest and sincere people that we have met with in our voyage.
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Having crossed the Bitterroots again, the expedition breaks into smaller groups in order to explore more of the Louisiana Territory
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Clark names a sandstone outcropping Pompy's Tower, after sacagawea's son, nicknamed Little Pomp. On the rock face Clark enscribes his name and the date.
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While making their way back to the Missouri, Lewis' party encounters eight Blackfeet warriors. They camp together, but the morning of the 27th the party catches the blackfeet attempting to steal their horses and guns. During a fight two of the Blackfeet were kille
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All of the parties are reunited downstream from the mouth of the Yellowstone River
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The expedition returns to the Mandan village. Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and (Pomp) Jean Baptist stay
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Lewis and Clark reach St. Louis.
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Lewis and Clark are treated as national heroes. They return to Washington, D.C. The men receive double pay and 320 acres of land as reward, the captains get 1,600 acres. Lewis is named governor of the Louisiana Territory, Clark is made Indian agent for the West and brigadier general of the territory's militia.
