Lewis and Clark Expedition

"On February 28, 1803, the United States Congress appropriated funds for a small U.S. Army unit to explore the Missouri and Columbia rivers and tell the western Indian tribes that traders would soon come to buy their furs.  The explorers were to make a detailed report on western geography, climate, plants and animals, and to study the customs and languages of the Indians.   Plans for the expedition were almost complete when the President (Thomas Jefferson) learned that France offered to sell all of Louisiana Territory to the United States.   This transfer, which was completed within a year, doubled the area of the United States.   It meant that Jefferson's Army expedition could travel all the way to the crest of the Rockies on American soil, no longer needing permission from the former French owners."         

."Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, both U.S. Army officers, traveled a total of about 8.,000 miles on the expedition.   from a camp near St Louis, they journeyed up the Missouri River across the Rocky Mountains, along the Columbia and other rivers to the Pacific coast.  They returned with maps of their route and surrounding regions; specimens and descriptions of plant, animal and mineral resources and information about the native peoples of the West.  The success of the expedition enabled the United States to claim the Oregon region, including the region which is  now Oregon, Washington, and Idaho."  (from World Book Encyclopedia L-221-223).