Lewis and Clark Expedition Timeline of Events

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Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the expedition had several goals...

Timeline of Events

1803

8.31.1803

Lewis and Clark start their expedition to the west by leaving Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 11 in the morning.

1804

5.14.1804

The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois and begins its historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.

8.20.1804

Lewis and Clark Expedition: the "Corps of Discovery", exploring the Louisiana Purchase, suffers its only death when sergeant Charles Floyd dies, apparently from acute appendicitis.

9.25.1804

The Teton Sioux (a subdivision of the Lakota) demand one of the boats from the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a toll for moving further upriver.

1805

4.7.1805

Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River.

6.13.1805

Lewis and Clark Expedition: scouting ahead of the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and four companions sight the Great Falls of the Missouri River.

1806

9.23.1806

Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis after exploring the Pacific Northwest of the United States.