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The Voyage West
Summary: Lewis and Clark had been the first American citizens to cross the continent. They mapped it and described their findings, including its inhabitants, human, botanical, and animal. They were the first white men to travel to the Northwest and established an American claim on what would later become Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
Long before Thomas Jefferson had come to be the third president of the United States, he had a dream to explore the West. This dream would end up turning into one of American history's greatest adventure stories of all time. Once he became president he contemplated a project of a western expedition with his private secretary Capt. Meriwether Lewis (pbs.com). President Jefferson's purpose was to find a land route to the Pacific Ocean to strengthen the American claims to Oregon territory. He also wanted to gather information about what inhabitants the West had to offer.
In 1803 Congress approved their plan and agreed to fund a small group to explore the uncharted West. President Jefferson named Lewis to lead the expedition. He had no hesitations in doing so. He would later write, "I had now had opportunities of knowing him intimately." (Stephen E. Ambrose, 1998) In 1802 Jefferson had spent...
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This section contains 2,170 words (approx. 8 pages at 300 words per page) |
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