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Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the first U. S. expedition across the continent. In 1804 a hopeful Thomas Jefferson sent Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to find the fabled River of the West. From the time of Columbus, explorers and statesmen had dreamed of a Northwest Passage, an all-water route connecting the trade routes of the Pacific to the Old World of the Atlantic. As president of a still-young nation, Jefferson had pressed for the Louisiana Purchase to strengthen American trade and settlement. The final $15 million-dollar agreement with France doubled America's size overnight. President Thomas Jefferson sent them to find the headwaters of the Missouri River and a river to the Pacific Ocean.
Throughout the expedition, Lewis and Clark gathered crucial information about this new territory and carefully recorded all of their findings in journals. About one quarter of their expedition was in what is now Montana. The following are some of the major discovery points in this journey though Montana:
Lewis and Clark survived numerous encounters with grizzly bears. They braved rough waters and harsh weather conditions. They trekked over dangerous mountain passes and overcame near starvation and illness. Remarkably, only one member of the group had died, and the men of the expedition were welcomed as heroes. The Corps of Discovery returned with important knowledge of the new United States territory west of the Mississippi. Though they never found a portage route to the Pacific Ocean, the expedition made important contributions to the mapping of the North American continent. They also learned about the people, the land, the mountains, the plants and animals. At every turn they made incredible discoveries in this previously uncharted, unexplored territory.
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