LC-3AP Corps of Discovery in the Bitterroots, Giclee Art PrintIn a confidential message to Congress on January 18, 1803 President Thomas Jefferson formed a proposal that would change the United States in the future. He proposed sending a group of men, variously known as the "Lewis and Clark Expedition" or the "Corps of Discovery," which turned out to be the most carefully thought out, brilliantly led, and most profitable trailblazing feat in history to that time.This scene depicts the expedition as it may have looked somewhere in the Bitterroot Mountains on its way to the Pacific Ocean. Their hopes for finding a Northwest Passage were gone. The Corps gained much knowledge, finding previously unknown plants and animals as well as some Indians who had not seen white people before that time. On May 14, 1804 the expedition started up the Missouri River. For the next 2 years, 4 months and 10 days, the explorers were beyond all advice, having rowed, hiked and ridden horseback beyond the edge of the known world. On September 22, 1805 the Ordeal of the Bitterroot crossing finally ended. Eleven grueling days after leaving Travelers Rest, the entire expedition staggered out of the mountains, almost more dead than alive. |
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