Have you ever wanted to walk in the shoes of Lewis and Clark? Today is the perfect day to start your journey down their path!
The year was 1804 and the day was, well, coincidentally, May 14th. It would become one of the most ambitious journeys in all of American history. Meriweather Lewis and William Clark were commissioned by then-President Thomas Jefferson to send the explorers into the unknown regions of the northwest territories. A region that had not yet been explored.
33 men would make the exploration into some of the harshest conditions at the time. Lewis served as Jefferson’s secretary and was handpicked by the President. Lewis would pick his Army buddy Clark to co-lead the expedition. The two along with the other would push out of St. Louis on this day 217 years ago.
The expedition was directly related to the U.S. purchase of the Louisianna territory, the Louisana Purchase that included what would become 11 U.S. States and neighboring borders to several others. The purchase by Jefferson and the United States from France would lead Jefferson to commission the exploration of that territory and the expedition began less than one year after its purchase.
Today, you can drive most of the trail of the expedition and along the way stop at various landmarks that herald the highs and some of the lows of the expedition.
The trail is marked by signage along the way to keep you on the right track. The National Park Service maintains the historic trail and visitors continue to pour onto the trail that spans 11 U.S. states from Missouri to Washington.
While you can start the “official” trail from St. Louis, the predatory states include five others that played a prominent role in the expedition. These include Pennsylvania and Ohio.
A state by state guide is available on the National Parks website for the Lewis and Clark Historical trail and can be viewed here.
The maps include important landmarks along the way including the Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa. Sgt. Floyd, a non-commissioned officer and relative of Clark, became ill in August and died at the location. The river and the bluff where the monument stand is in his honor. He was the only member of the expedition to pass away.
In Oregon, a monument stands to honor the only black member of the expedition, a slave named York who made the arduous journey along with the rest of the 32 “explorers”. At the time, he was a forgotten member but was documented as one of the men in the expedition and survived the trek into the northernmost state.
Today, the trail is one of the most popular destinations for hikers across the entire northern United States from Virginia to St. Louis to Iowa, Montana, and Oregon.