Lewis and Clark for Kids: Their Journey of Discovery with 21 Activities
Lowe CLA SYCHARLES SMA
Preface To the Westward Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was born in Albemarle County Virginia in 1743 His father was a surveyor and planter Thomas's mother was from one of Vir ginia's most distinguished families Their tall freckle faced son grew up to become the third pres ident of the United States Jefferson wrote the Dec laration of Independence and served as minister to France and later as secretary of state under Presi dent George Washington In addition he was an architect naturalist gardener and inventor Jefferson designed and started building his ele gant home Monti cello when he was 26 years old He conducted the country’s first archaeological survey and found the bones of ancient Indians Jefferson also collected a great library and cre ated the University of Virginia By making the Lou isiana Purchase and appointing the expedition to explore North America he changed the face of the nation Jefferson died on July 4 1826 the 50th anniversary of the signing of his Declaration of
1803 Louisiana Purchase Honored Parence wrote John Ordway I am now on an expidition to the westward with Captain Lewis and Captain Clark who are appointed by the Presi dent of the United States to go on an expidition through the interior parts of North America We are to ascend the Missouri River with a boat as far as it is navigable and then to go by land to the westward Ocean I will write next winter if I have a chance Yours John Ordway Sergeant Ordway wrote to his honored parents in May 1804 from a campsite in Illinois country north of the fron tier town of St Louis His letter may have made his family uneasy The expedition he described was about to set off for an indefinite period of time over an uncertain course through wild and unmapped lands Ordway was a member of the Corps of Discovery the expedition of Lewis and Clark This group of hand picked men was about to venture across the unex plored west of the American continent In 1800 the settled regions of the United States ended at the Mississippi River In the western territo ries that would eventually include the states of Ohio Indiana and Illinois a smattering of new settlers lived in windowless log cabins dressed in deerskin and hunted and farmed Farther west was a vast unexplored wilderness peopled by scattered Indian tribes Only a handful of fur trappers had dared to
travel beyond the great waters of the Mississippi Riv er The United States was a young country having only recently won its freedom from England Starting as a small number of states along the eastern edge of the continent the United States expanded south and west Settler families broke the land and built homes in the wild forests of Kentucky and Georgia As the country grew it pushed against lands claimed by other governments Spain held the land now known as the state of Florida It also held a vast area from the mouth of the Mississippi River north including all the lands through which the Missouri River and its tributaries flowed The land was called the Lou isiana Territory No one really knew how big it was the vast region was unexplored by Europeans In 1800 Spain relinquished the Louisiana Territory land to France In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson bought the
