#Lewis and clark corps of discovery map full

An illustration of this plant is shown to the right. An example of one such specimen is the Linum lewisii, Lewis' flax. He also collected seeds and roots and preserved pressed specimens, many of which eventually arrived in Philadelphia. In Lewis’s journals, he carefully described the physical characteristics in great detail and drew detailed illustrations. The total number of plants collected by Lewis is thought to be between 232 and 238. Naming and classifying was left to specialists. citizens to cross the continent the first individuals to traverse it within the area of the present United States and the first white men to explore the Upper Missouri area and a large part of the Columbia Basin as well as to pass over the Continental Divide within the drainage area of the two rivers.Īlthough Lewis and Clark discovered 17 plants and 144 animals that were new to Western science, they did not name them. In its scope and achievements, the expedition towers among the major explorations of the North American Continent and the world. Equally as important, the political and economic ramifications of the trek vitally affected the subsequent course and growth of the Nation.

#Lewis and clark corps of discovery map full

This epic feat not only sparked national pride, but it also fired the imagination of the American people and made them feel for the first time the full sweep of the continent on which they lived. Between 18, it carried the destiny, as well as, the flag of our young Nation westward from the Mississippi across thousands of miles of mostly unknown land-up the Missouri, over the Rocky Mountains, and on to the Pacific. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was one of the most dramatic and significant episodes in the history of the United States. President of the United States” National Importance Given under my hand at the City of Washington, this twentieth day of June, 1803. The remains and accounts of any which may be deemed rare or extinct Ĭlimate…the date at which particular plants put forth or lose their flower or leaf times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles, or insects. …The soils and face of the country its growth and vegetable productions… The commerce which may be carried on with the people inhabiting the line you will pursue renders a knowledge of those people important. The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregan, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water-communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce. “To Meriwether Lewis, Esquire, Captain of the First Regiment of Infantry of the United States of America: