Lewis and Clark's Expedition from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean was the first governmental exploration of the "Great West." The history of this undertaking is the personal narrative and official report of the first white men who crossed the continent between and British and Spanish possessions.

The place was the vast unexplored western frontier of the United States. The time was 1804. The Lewis and Clark expedition set out and overcome the unknown to open the way for settlers to begin the westward expansion to the Pacific Ocean. Conceived by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the lands of the new Louisiana Purchase, the expedition also made many scientific and geographic observations. Author Judith Edwards highlights the extraordinary spirit of courage and cooperation that existed among the members of the famous expedition. This book is developed from LEWIS AND CLARK’S JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY IN AMERICAN HISTORY to allow republication of the original text into ebook, paperback, and trade editions.

Few events in American history have shaped the nation like the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It opened the American West for settlement. It redrew the map of the United States. It identified an array of native peoples, spectacular places, fascinating creatures, and extraordinary flora unknown in "civilized" America. It defined the American nation as a land stretching from coast to coast-and it launched the spread of population in a mighty frontier migration unlike anything ever witnessed in America before or since. Lewis and Clark on the Trail of Discovery contains 19 chapters, detailing the expedition chronologically. A "museum in a book," this fascinating volume contains re-creations of original documents such as diary entries, letters, maps, and sketches-all meticulously reproduced so that the reader can actually handle and examine them. Among the documents included in the book are: The actual letter of credit Jefferson wrote to Lewis committing the U.S. government to pay for the expedition. The code Thomas Jefferson provided to Lewis for sending secret messages. Clark's sketch of the technique some Indians used to flatten their heads, a sign of prestige. Clark's letter of gratitude to Sacagawea, a Shoshone teenager who helped the expedition. A newspaper account of the expedition's return to St. Louis.

"Thomas Jefferson's Corps of Discovery included Captains Lewis and Clark and a crew of 28 men to chart a route from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. All the crew but one volunteered for the mission. York, the enslaved man taken on the journey, did not choose to go. Slaves did not have choices. York's contributions to the expedition, however, were invaluable. The captains came to rely on York's judgement, determination, and peacemaking role with the American Indian nations they encountered. But as York's independence and status rose on the journey, the question remained what status he would carry once the expedition was over. This is his story."--Provided by publisher.

Lewis and Clark's expedition originated in the mind of President Thomas Jefferson as a way to make scientific and geographic observations about the lands of the new Louisiana Purchase. Highlighting the extraordinary spirit of courage and cooperation that existed among the members of the expedition, author Judith Edwards shows how Lewis and Clark were able to overcome the obstacles of unknown territory and potentially dangerous encounters with American Indians to open the way for settlers to begin the westward expansion to the Pacific Ocean.