The west and all of its treasures were a great mystery to the people of the United States around the turn of the 19th century. As far as the Native Americans were concerned, the west was their home, and tey already had explored and discovered much of its treasures. These native peoples had already established extensive trade networks amongst themselves, which worked to unify the continent. These native people also developed very complex societies, complete with governments, working economies, and all other things we would consider a present day society to consist of. They felt that the lands, which the United States wished to

The expedition as a whole collected various samples of both flora, and fauna, which greatly helped the developing nation to grow and expand. The expedition did make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean following various rivers, and created the belief that it can be done, the continent can be crossed. They set up relationships with various Indian tribes, as well as foreign traders. This worked to lay the groundwork for the eventual trading relationships used by travelers along the Oregon Trail. The riches of the country know included a lot of unclaimed and unsettled land as well as an abundance of furs, Lewis also told of the many riches of the continent that the country ought to take advantage of. If it wasn't for the heroics of Lewis and Clark, as well as the rest of the men in the expedition, and the writings of Lewis, The young United States may not have known what the west had to offer before it was too late.

On August 31st, 1803, well over a month behind schedule already, Lewis set off with his expedition from Pittsburgh, sailing down the Ohio to Clarksville, Kentucky, where he would pick up his co-leader of the expedition, William Clark. The leg of the journey from Pittsburgh to Clarksville was incredibly difficult and slow going due to the fact that the river level had fallen significantly, and navigating it by boat was incredibly difficult. On October 15th, he found Clark, and so began the expedition, the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The expedition decided to spend that winter at Camp Wood, along the Missouri river in Present day Illinois. Throughout the next two years, the expedition made significant scientific discoveries, and mapped much of the Missouri river as well as much of the western half of the present day United States. Clark being the military mind of the expedition was very concerned with the threat that the Indians posed to the expedition and made sure that the expedition was very apt at firing a rifle, as well as making sure that everything was very well armed. Lewis was mostly the naturalist on this expedition, making long solitary walks into the wilderness to collect samples to send back to Jefferson in Washington, observing in great detail the lay of the land and what was there, as well as mapping as much of it as best he could. Both Lewis and Clark were exquisite writers and take extensive notes on everything they saw. These notes allowed both people in Washington to share in the discovery of new places as well as for people today to see what it was like to see something like this for the first time. These notes eventually become the basis for the Ambrose book Undaunted Courage.

Today we as a nation take the western half of the United States for granted, but to the developing nation, it represented the great frontier, similar as to what space is too us today. Without the pioneering efforts of all the mountain men, and Lewis and Clark, we may never have been able to call the western half of the continent ours. These two groups, and others, truly opened up the west for settlement and exploitation by the United States. Lewis and Clark actually laid out what the west was, how to get there, and where to go. The mountain men explored all the little nooks and crannies of the continent. The efforts of these two groups are what eventually led to the massive migration of the population across the continent, and they should be recognized as true American heroes.

The expedition also met many and various Native Americans that they traded with, studied, and even made friends with some. One of these friends was a woman by the name of Sacagawea, who turned out to be invaluable as both a guide and as an interpreter and a sign of peace with the other In

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Approximate Word count = 2517
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)