The United States Expands: The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 2nd Edition Part 1
On January 18, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent a message to Congress asking for funds to outfit an expedition to explore the western lands from the Mississippi River to the “western (Pacific) Ocean.” He asked for a mere $2,500. The eventual cost proved to be $38,722.25, which would be over $890,000 today, to finance this Corps of Discovery, otherwise known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. [1] On February 28, 1803, Congress approved the venture. [2]
In the early part of 1803 this move was very risky. For one thing, the United States did not own the land; it was claimed by the “two most powerful nations in the world, France and Britain.” [3] Though Jefferson was interested in all of the western lands, his primary objective was to secure permission to traverse the Mississippi River as well as the right to do business in the port city of New Orleans, then controlled by France. So, receiving permission from Congress, especially members of the rival Federalist party, could prove problematic. Thus, when Napoleon Bonaparte’s Foreign Minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand asked if the United States would like to buy all of the Louisiana Territory it came as an unexpected, but pleasant surprise. [4]
Robert R. Livingston, the American representative in Paris, had been negotiating with Talleyrand for the port of New Orleans. When Jefferson decided to send his friend James Monroe, who would become the fifth President of the United States of America in 1817, to Paris as a special envoy, Livingston tried to hurry the negotiations while Monroe was at sea so that he could gain all the credit. [5]
Napoleon, then the First Consul, i.e. dictator, of the French Republic had regained control of Louisiana from the Spanish in 1800. By 1803, however, the “Little Corporal” as he was sometimes called, found his country and himself in troubling times. A revolt by slaves in Saint-Domingue, now present-day Haiti, had been ongoing since 1791. A new war with Great Britain, soon to be joined by Austria and Russia was, also, having a taxing effect on France. Thus, the French ruler was willing to sell Louisiana to the United States and diverse himself from the New World.
Livingston and Monroe were astounded when Talleyrand asked what the Americans would give for all of Louisiana. Surprised, but not so much that they could not see a golden opportunity when it came knocking; the two diplomats quickly agreed to terms. Despite knowing they had no authority to do so, the American emissaries struck a bargain with France whereby the United States would pay $15 million dollars for the 530,000,000 acres, or 828,000 square miles that comprised Louisiana. [6] At a cost of less than three cents per acre, Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States of American, with one stroke of the pen, had almost doubled the size of the fledgling nation.
Next, Jefferson turned to his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis. It was Lewis who would lead the military reconnaissance into this vast new wilderness. But now it would be a legitimate move to examine new territory acquired by the United States of America. [7]
For his executive officer, Lewis chose an old army comrade, William Clark. Clark, the younger brother of General George Rogers Clark of Revolutionary War fame, had been a lieutenant in the Army, and along with Lewis participated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 when General Mad Anthony Wayne defeated the British and a confederation of Native American tribes under Blue Jacket (Shawnee), Little Turtle (Miami), and Egushawa (Ottawa). A young Shawnee, named Tecumseh, also, fought in the engagement. [8] In addition to his military duties, Clark performed various clandestine missions for General Wayne in regard to the Spanish settlements along the Mississippi River. However, a recurring illness along with family problems forced Clark to resign his commission in 1796. When Lewis contacted him in July 1803, Clark jumped at the offer of a captaincy (down-graded to lieutenant by the War Department) commission in the army as well as second-in-command in a historical undertaking of such great magnitude. [9]
While Lewis was gathering the equipment and provisions for the expedition, Clark was at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers recruiting and drilling the men who would be going on the trip. In all, there were over 30 men, including a half-breed interpreter and Clark’s giant Negro servant York, when Lewis and Clark set out on their epic-making journey. [10]
During the preparation phase of the mission, President Jefferson had Lewis go to Philadelphia for instruction at the University of Pennsylvania and at the American Philosophical Society. Lewis learned celestial navigation as well as several other natural sciences. [11] Since the expedition would have to be made up entirely of hardy woodsmen and professional soldiers, there would not be room for trained academics, so Jefferson wanted Lewis to have a background knowledge of such sciences as biology, botany, and geology. At the same time, Lewis was also purchasing the gear necessary for their journey. Although “impressed by the accuracy of the Kentucky long rifle,” Lewis considered it to be too fragile. So, “he redesigned the piece so effectively that Lewis’ ‘Harpers Ferry Rifle’ became the standard weapon and first mass-produced infantry arm for the United States Army.” [12]
In addition to the weaponry, Lewis selected astronomical instruments, swivel guns (for heavy armament), clothing, provisions and camp supplies, and the framework of an iron boat, of his own design, which never worked properly. He also included such items as colored beads, calico shirts, bells, looking glasses (mirrors), ribbons, and other assorted items. These trinkets were meant as presents to the Indians or for trading purposes. In all Lewis spent $2,160.41 of which $669.50 was on Indian gifts alone. [13][14]
By the spring of 1804, the Corps of Discovery was ready to go. On March 9, 1804, at the Government House in St. Louis, the formal signing of the document whereby the Louisiana Territory officially became United States property took place, with Captain Meriwether Lewis present as a witness. [15] This new territory of the United States would encompass the modern-day states of Louisiana (about half of the state), a small portion of Texas (about one fifth of that state), all of the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. In addition, about half of the states of Colorado, Minnesota, and North Dakota as well as two-thirds of Wyoming and the vast majority of Montana (about eighty percent) were part of this historic purchase.
