Corps of Discovery
Quick Summary
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, was a U.S. military exploration from 1804 to 1806. Led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark, its primary goal was to explore the vast Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, the expedition aimed to map the territory, establish diplomatic relations with Native American tribes, and seek a potential Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. The journey covered nearly 8,000 miles, documenting new plants and animals and contributing significantly to the geographic and scientific understanding of the American West.12
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
Lewis and Clark ExpeditionExpedition from May 14, 1804, to October 16, 1805…Pacific Ocean and back, the Corps of Discovery, as the expedition company was called, traveled nearly 8,000 miles (13,000 km). The entourage, numbering about four dozen men, covered 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km) a day—poling, pushing, and pulling their 10-ton keelboat and two pirogues (dugout boats) up…
Read More…Pacific Ocean and back, the Corps of Discovery, as the expedition company was called, traveled nearly 8,000 miles (13,000 km). The entourage, numbering about four dozen men, covered 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km) a day—poling, pushing, and pulling their 10-ton keelboat and two pirogues (dugout boats) up…
Read More- Lewis and Clark ExpeditionPacific Ocean and return
The Corps of Discovery met with a grand reception at St. Louis on September 23. Congress rewarded them with double pay and public land. The captains each received 1,600 acres (650 hectares), and their men received 320 acres (130 hectares). The final cost for the expedition…
Read MoreThe Corps of Discovery met with a grand reception at St. Louis on September 23. Congress rewarded them with double pay and public land. The captains each received 1,600 acres (650 hectares), and their men received 320 acres (130 hectares). The final cost for the expedition…
Read More
William ClarkThe Corps of Discovery (which included Clark’s slave York) departed on May 14, 1804, with Clark operating as the expedition’s principal waterman and cartographer. His monumental maps of the West (1810–14) represented the best available until the 1840s. Moreover, he kept one of the most faithful…
Read MoreThe Corps of Discovery (which included Clark’s slave York) departed on May 14, 1804, with Clark operating as the expedition’s principal waterman and cartographer. His monumental maps of the West (1810–14) represented the best available until the 1840s. Moreover, he kept one of the most faithful…
Read More
Meriwether Lewis…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,…
Read More…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,…
Read More