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Find facts about the Lewis and Clark Expedition for Kids. Fun Facts about the Lewis and Clark Expedition for Kids. History and Info about the Lewis and Clark Expedition for Kids.

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Kids learn about the biography and life of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They explored the wild west of America.

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For Kids: President Jefferson, the 3rd U.S. President, was very good at talking Congress into doing things. First, he talked Congress into buying 500,000,000 acres of land from Napoleon of France (the Louisiana Purchase) with money Congress did not have. To make the purchase, Congress had to borrow money from two European banks. This huge purchase doubled the size of the United States. Then Jefferson talked Congress into approving an exploration of this land, thousands of miles of never explored acreage. No one had any idea of what to expect or what the explorers might find. He also talked Congress into funding the exploration, but Congress would only approve $2,500.

The next step was to decide who would go. When Jefferson became president, he had asked his good friend, army captain Meriwether Lewis, to become his personal secretary. Lewis agree. After the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson asked Lewis if he would like to lead the exploration west of the Mississippi, into the land now called the Federal Territory of Louisiana. Lewis jumped at the chance. He loved adventure. Lewis asked his good friend, Lieutenant William Clark, if he would like to join the expedition. Like Lewis, Clark jumped at the chance.

In 1804, they organized their trip and gathered supplies. In 1805, Lewis, Clark, and a small group of men composed of U.S. Army volunteers, headed west into the Federal Territory of Louisiana. This small band of explorers have been nicknamed the Corps of Discovery by historians. The Corps of Discovery faced every possible danger - illness, hunger, dangerous animals, poisonous plants, rough terrain, you name it. They traveled down the Ohio River, up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and reached the Pacific Ocean. They met many different tribes of Native Americans - some friendly, some not so friendly. With maps and sketches in hand, they returned home to report their findings to President Jefferson.

Their trip excited the imagination of many people. Their exploration west of the Mississippi encouraged western expansion by settlers.

Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark (Donn, cartoon powerpoint)

Lewis and Clark, Interactive
Language Chain Game - How did Lewis and Clark talk to the Indians?
The Story of Sacagawea

For Teachers

Free Lesson Plans, Classroom Activities

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Western Expansion for Kids - Lewis and Clark

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For Kids: President Jefferson, the 3rd U.S. President, was very good at talking Congress into doing things. First, he talked Congress into buying 500,000,000 acres of land from Napoleon of France (the Louisiana Purchase) with money Congress did not have. To make the purchase, Congress had to borrow money from two European banks.

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Parents and Teachers: MrN 365 is NOW LIVE! Get full access to the entire MrNussbaum library with NO ADS, NO FLASH, thousands of additional activities unavailable here plus amazing new features such as student dashboards, bookmarking, and designing your own games and activities!

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On a gloomy December afternoon in 1803, a boat crept along the banks of the Mississippi River and landed at the mouth of the Wood River in what is now the state of Illinois. A group of men climbed out and began to set up camp under a dark canopy of oak trees. Suddenly a violent storm moved in, pelting the area with snow and hail.

The men didn't turn back though. Instead, they hunkered down and spent the next five months here preparing for the trip they were about to embark on,in which poor weather would be one of the many dangers they'd face.

Among these men were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, co-leaders of an expedition tasked with exploring land that the United States had recently acquired. Their trip would turn into an epic 8,000-mile-long trek-and the first big step in the United States' westward expansion.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

When Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States in 1801, the country basically stopped at the Mississippi River. France controlled much of the land to the west of this waterway.

President Jefferson wanted to acquire the Port of New Orleans, in what is now the state of Louisiana, from the French. Its prime location made it a key spot for trade. In 1803, Jefferson made what's known as one of the greatest real estate deals in history: the Louisiana Purchase.

After negotiations, France agreed to sell the entire city of New Orleans, which included the port, to the United States for $10 million; they threw in the rest of the territory they owned for an additional $5 million. The agreement-which gave the United States approximately 828,000 square miles of land-almost doubled the size of the nearly 30-year-old nation.

The United States only paid about three cents an acre for the land, which stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. Spain still owned much of the southwestern part of what's now the United States, stretching from the area that would become Texas to present-day California.

Purchasing this enormous amount of land was one thing, but exploring it was another. Jefferson wanted to plan an expedition to investigate the territory. He called the proposed mission the Voyage of Discovery and began assembling a team of explorers called the Corps (KOR) of Discovery. The president chose Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark to lead the expedition. Lewis, President Jefferson's personal secretary, was an officer in the United States Army and spoke several Native American languages. Lewis recommended Clark-a retired officer who had served alongside him in the Army-as the expedition's co-leader.

WAY OUT WEST

In the spring of 1804, Lewis, Clark, and dozens of other men left St. Louis, Missouri, by boat. They traveled westward through what is now Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

In November they reached Knife River Village in present-day North Dakota. There they met a young Shoshone Native American woman called Sacagawea (Sa-kuh-juh-WEE-uh) and her fur-trader husband, Toussaint Charbonneau (Too-SAHNT SHAR-bon-oh). The couple joined the expedition as interpreters, translating the language of the local tribes for Lewis and Clark's men.

Sacagawea didn't just serve as an interpreter during the trip, however. She helped Lewis and Clark's men obtain essential supplies and horses, identified edible plants and herbs, and prevented hostile relations with other tribes simply by being with the group-all while carrying her newborn baby on her back.

After meeting Sacagawea and her husband, the Corps traveled west from North Dakota, 15 to 20 miles a day on foot and by boat, toward the mountains. Day after day, the exhausted, freezing team braved rough rivers and perilous peaks, getting by on very little food. They wouldn't see the Pacific Ocean until November 1805-over a year after they first left Missouri.

COMING HOME

After a long winter waiting out the bad weather, the Corps was able to start making their way back east in March 1806. After returning Sacagawea and her husband to North Dakota, the remainder of the Corps arrived back in Missouri in late September, more than two years after they started their expedition.

Lewis and Clark's team mapped uncharted land, rivers, and mountains. They brought back journals filled with details about Native American tribes and scientific notes about plants and animals they'd never seen before. They also brought back stories-tales that made other Americans dream about heading west.

Many Americans did more than dream. The great westward expansion was about to begin.

Text adapted from The Journals of Lewis and Clark; The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation: From the Louisiana Purchase to Today; and Sacagawea

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How Lewis and Clark-along with a Native American guide, Sacagawea-explored the newly expanded United States