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HISTORY & PREHISTORY

Lewis and Clark

Updated: August 6, 2020

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned an exploration to trace the Missouri River to its source and find a water route to the Pacific Ocean.

Under the leadership of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark the Corps of Discovery covered almost 8,000 miles from St. Louis, Missouri, to the mouth of the Columbia River, returning two years later. They journeyed westward across Montana from April 1805 to September of that year. On the return trip to St. Louis in the summer of 1806, the leaders crossed Montana using two separate routes.

White cliffs of the wild and scenic Missouri River near Virgelle, Montana
White cliffs of the wild and scenic Missouri River near Virgelle, Montana

Updated: August 6, 2020

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