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For centuries before 1800, Native tribal groups had inhabited the land of the Great Plains and the West. In that sense, they "owned" it. Between 1650 and 1800, a series of European governments — Spain, Britain, France and Russia — all sent explorers into parts of the West and "claimed" to own the land.
But in 1802, ownership of a large part of the West changed, and changed fundamentally. ... Read more
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A black man by the name of York accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition as a slave to Clark. He had been a childhood companion to William Clark and made invaluable contributions to the expedition on many occasions. Clark reported that York was especially attentive to Sergeant Floyd during his final days. York also risked his life to save Clark in a flash flood on the Missouri River near Great Falls in present-day Montana.
York participated in the hunts to bring ... Read more
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For Lewis and Clark, as well as the explorers who followed them, one of their main tasks was to map an unknown territory. Maps would allow trappers, immigrants and settlers to find their way west. To draw the maps, Lewis and Clark had to figure out the longitude and latitude at each point, and they relied on the best technology available at the time:
• a sextant, which cost $77
• an octant
• an artificial horizon
• a surveying compass
• and a scientific ...
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Meriwether Lewis was a Virginian and was trained by Thomas Jefferson. Lewis was familiar with western life. He was probably the most fascinating member of the expedition, but also the most complex. He suffered from serious emotional problems and sometimes acted without thinking. Lewis had what Jefferson described as "occasional depressions of the mind." Yet, he enjoyed a close personal relationship with Thomas Jefferson and knew Jefferson’s mind. He was Jefferson’s handpicked man for Jefferson’s pet project — exploration of ... Read more