Lewis and Clark expedition, 1804-1806

5/23/2016

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, nearly doubling the size of America. President Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the territory, hoping to find a water route west from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, one of my favorite books of all time, recounts this fabulous adventure. If you are at all interested in understanding present-day Americans, this story explains a lot!