First Explorers

Lewis and Clark

President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition for many reasons. Jefferson had just purchased the Louisiana territory from France for $15,000,000. , At that time, the territory spanned approximately 800,000 square miles, and Jefferson wanted to map the new territory. He also wanted to find an overland route to the Pacific and find out more about the wildlife in the area. Jefferson also wanted to hold land negotiations and trade with the Native Americans in the frontier territories.

William Clark left Camp Dubois on May 14, 1804, and joined Meriwether Lewis in St. Charles soon after. They traveled with their crew on footas well as on a 55-foot keelboat. Clark supervised the navigation and Lewis made notes about the journey. The Native American guide, Sacajawea, helped guide the travelers down the Missouri River, Marias River, Yellowstone River, Columbia River, and across the Continental Divide.

The expedition yielded helpful botanical information and also set thestage for further negotiations with the Native Americans. It also helped map out a large portion of the newly acquired territory and the Oregon country. This journey also pioneered the way for other explorers to further discover the great American West.

Pike

Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike led two expeditions that added to the geographical knowledge of Louisiana. He led one north from 1805 to 1806 and also one south from 1806 to 1807. His mission north was to find the source of the Mississippi River, which he believed to be Leech Lake after his trip on the Kansas and Osage Rivers. In his expedition south, he was ordered to avoid Spanish territory, but secretly, he may have had other orders to do so. In any case, he traveled the Arkansas and later was captured by the Spanish as he entered New Mexico, but later released. Pike kept careful notes, which helped establish the myth of the Great American Desert.

Powell

John Wesley Powell, a Union officer, was wounded at Shiloh in 1862, which led to him losing his arm. Powell loved geology and became aprofessor of geology at the University of Illinois. His class made exploratory field trips in the Trans-Mississippi west. Powell decided that he wanted to follow the Colorado system from Green River to where it joined the River, near present day Lake Mead. He commissioned three oak boats, one pine boat, bought scientific equipment, drew from Army surplus supplies, and raised a crew of nine. He set out on May 24, 1869.

He had already lost two men and one boat at Disaster Falls and by mid-August he was at the Grand Canyon. On August 28, three men deserted because they were low on rations and the journey seemed far from over. Native Americans killed them. On August 30, they exited Lo'Dore Canyon and saw a Mormon fishing with his son. The expedition gained good knowledge of the topography of the west and also went to help disprove the saying, "rain follows the plow."