Introduction In May 1804 a group of United States Army volunteers traveled into the western United States for the first time The group was called the Corps of Discovery Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark led it The leaders chose thirty-one explorers to join them They picked men who were young strong healthy and unmarried Many had experience living and working in the wilderness as hunters or trackers Later a Native American woman named Sacagawea sah-ka-juh WEE-uh joined them Together the explorers traveled to the Pacific Ocean Along the way they faced many dangers but they also made important discoveries Life As an Explorer with Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark got help from a Native American woman named Sacagawea
Meriwether Lewis
Chapter 1 Expanding America Thomas Jefferson became president of the United States in 1801 He was the leader of a large and mostly unexplored country In 1803 he bought territory in the West with the Louisiana Purchase This meant the United States gained land stretching to the Rocky Mountains Most of that area was unexplored The French had hunted and trapped there and traded with some of the Native American tribes but now that the land belonged to the United States the president needed to know William Clark Expanding America
