In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on an expedition that did not just change America, it changed the world. They explored and documented an area of the North American continent that was previously unmapped. Twenty-five years after their return, a quarter of the population of the United States lived west of the Appalachian Mountains. Lewis and Clark made that change possible. Each of the documents included in this documentary history was chosen with one primary purpose: to bring each reader, each historian, old and young, begin- ner and advanced, closer to the people who went on this expedition, and to the events that happened. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of books and documents available on the Lewis and Clark expedition, but this book is designed to help the reader to know more about the people who went west, to find out how they felt, what they did, how they prepared, and what life was like for them afterward. This set of documents differs from previous editions, as it attempts to give insight into a greater variety of people who were part of the expedition. To achieve this, this book uses longer excerpts than other books to allow for a fuller picture. Edited documents give a different picture and often do not tell the whole story. I have sometimes used different accounts from different journals to describe the same day, or the same event. These differing texts—sometimes between Lewis and Clark, more often between the officers and enlisted men—expand our knowl- edge, bringing us closer not only to the success of the trip, but also to the fears and near-failures. Equally important, this book also contextualizes the trip within the personal and political history of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, the man who long envisioned such an adventure. Vital to this story are the previous failed attempts, the Louisiana Purchase, the background economic issues of the new United States as it attempted to expand in order to survive, and the security of the new republic. I have provided this historical context to help the readers get a greater understanding of the events, the era, and the people. So while Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Thomas Jefferson are neces- sarily in the forefront of this story and are found in the vast majority of the docu- ments, other members of the expedition and others whose lives were impacted by it need to be recognized and remembered. Had Lewis and Clark’s original party tried to make this trip by themselves, not only would they have failed, but the chances are that all would have died. It was only with the help of the Native Ameri- can population—in particular Sacagawea, as well as other Native Americans—that their voyage succeeded. Often forgotten and overlooked but fundamental to the success of the trip was the local knowledge and the language skills of the mostly Preface
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