What Is The Significance Of The Lewis And Clark Expedition

It has been described as "the greatest camping trip of all time," a voyage of high adventure, an exercise in manifest destiny which carried the American flag overland to the Pacific. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was all of this and more. Between 1804 and 1806, Lewis and Clark made the first systematic reports, based on scientific measurement and observations, of the Missouri River--not only its course, but its flora and fauna, depth and current, tributaries and inhabitants. They continued onward to document their observations in the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest. Lewis and Clark described for science at least 120 mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, as well as at least 182 plant species. They made the first attempt at a systematic
How fast was the current? How high the cliffs? Was that bird or plant different from one known in the East? Lewis went on to describe some of the animals, including the eastern woodrat--the first animal new to science encountered on the voyage--in what is today Osage County, Missouri. The explorers encountered fierce grizzly bears which attacked them. The bears were so tough that even several rifle shots wouldn't kill them. The grizzly bears were truly the kings of the western plains. Lewis and Clark were fascinated with the little prairie dogs that built huge underground villages. They saw so many buffalo that at one point they recorded that they had to "club them out of the way." Other new species that the Corps of Discovery encountered included pronghorn antelopes, bighorn sheep, black tailed deer (or mule deer), mountain beaver, white weasel, mountain goat, coyote and various species of rabbit, squirrel, fox and wolf. In addition to their descriptions, Lewis and Clark sent back a large number of zoological specimens, including a few live ones, as well as skins, bones, skeletons, teeth, talons and horns. Among the five live animals Lewis sent Jefferson in 1805 was a "barking squirrel," or black-tailed prairie dog, which lived out the rest of its life at the White
Jefferson believed that the voyages of discovery would add to the world's supply of food crops and plants beneficial to human kind. Lewis and Clark were directed to pay special attention to "the soil & face of the country, it's growth & vegetable productions, especially those not of the U.S." Lewis and Clark collected hundreds of plant specimens and recorded information on their habitats, growth, and uses by American Indians. Lewis showed a talent for observation, exemplified in his description of camas, sometimes known as quamash, an important food plant for the Nez Perce. In a beautifully crafted essay for his journal record, Lewis carefully described the plant's natural environment, its physical structure, the ways Nez Perce women harvested and prepared camas, and its role in the Indian diet. The explorers discovered about 80 species new to science, including future state flowers for Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, as well as the state grass of Montana. Their collections formed the basis for the first major scientific publication that described and illustrated the plants west of the Mississippi River. Lewis and Clark sent back numerous botanical specimens during the expedition, originally held in two collections, one in Britain and another at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. In the latter half of the 19th century, the two collections were brought together in their