Finding the NW passage was important...........but i think it was the least of the numerous reasons for the Lewis and Clark expedition.........



In 1803 Jefferson appointed Lewis commander of an expedition to explore the American territory newly acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. His considerable frontier skills, military service, physical endurance, intellectual prowess, and literary skills made him an excellent choice. Lewis traveled to Philadelphia to study astronomy, botany, zoology, and medicine with some of the country’s brightest scientists and doctors. He also began making preparations, recruiting men, and purchasing equipment, boats, and supplies for the expedition. When Jefferson informed Lewis of the numerous commercial, scientific, and diplomatic purposes of the venture, Captain Lewis invited his good friend Clark to co-command the expedition. Although Clark was officially a lieutenant and second in command because the U.S. secretary of war refused him the same status as Lewis, the expedition leaders referred to each other as “captain” to mask this bureaucratic distinction.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition spanned 8,000 mi (13,000 km) and three years (1804–06), taking the Corps of Discovery, as the expedition party was known, down the Ohio River, up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis served as the field scientist, chronicling botanical, zoological, meteorological, geographic, and ethnographic information. He also gathered specimens—plant, animal, and mineral—to send back East for further study. Although there are several time lapses in Lewis’s journal entries, the expedition’s records are a national treasure. The co-commanders advanced the American fur trade by documenting the river systems and fur resources in the West. They met Indian leaders, distributed trade goods, delivered speeches, invited Indian delegations to travel to Washington, and conducted peace, friendship, and trade negotiations. Moreover, they announced the sovereignty of the United States and left calling cards of empire such as medals, flags, and certificates.