The Expedition

Abstract

Weeks before Thomas Jefferson learned he had successfully purchased Louisiana, his secretary wrote William Clark to invite him to cocaptain an exploration of the territory. The preparations for the adventure, the selection of Louisville-area young men accustomed to hard living, and the gathering of supplies consumed Clark and the area until the two captains shoved away from the Falls in a driving October rain. The Lewis and Clark Expedition is a seminal moment in the development of the United States of America, and it was Clark’s brothers and brothers-in-law who received steady, if erratic, news of the uncharted continent between 1803 and 1806. The explorers, along with their Native entourage, arrived at the homes of Jonathan Clark and William Croghan before beginning their separate treks to Washington City, where they reported their stunning findings to Thomas Jefferson.