Lewis and Clark Expedition: A History from Beginning to End

In 1800, less than 25 years after it became an independent nation, the United States faced a new threat on its western border. To the west lay a vast area known as the Louisiana Territory, which was under Spanish control. The United States had negotiated treaties with Spain that allowed small numbers of US settlers and traders to enter the territory, to use the Mississippi River for navigation, and to trade through the Spanish port of New Orleans. At the turn of the nineteenth century, however, that situation changed when Napoleon Bonaparte acquired the Louisiana Territory, hoping to revive the former French Empire in North America. A new war with France on America's western frontier began to seem inevitable.

But then, abruptly, Napoleon, who was facing the prospect of imminent war with Britain, decided to abandon his plans for North America. A deal was struck in 1803 in which France agreed to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million. This purchase added over 800,000 square miles (2 million square kilometers) to the United States, more than doubling its size. There was just one problem: most of the new territory was uncharted wilderness. Few white people had been there, no maps existed, and no one was entirely sure just what it was that President Thomas Jefferson had agreed to purchase. Jefferson saw only one solution: a party of brave men must be sent to explore the vast new territory. They would be entering the unknown and face danger and uncertainty at every step. This is the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

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Lydbog: 5. september 2026