Lewis & Clark & the Corps of Discovery

It was an adventure that changed the course of American history — and it all began 200 years ago in Pittsburgh. On July 15, 1803, Meriwether Lewis arrived in this small frontier town of just 1,600 people, with instructions from President Thomas Jefferson to supervise preparations for an expedition westward to find and map a transcontinental water route to the Pacific Ocean. Despite delays caused by the "unpardonable negligence" of the boat builder, the expedition finally got under way from Pittsburgh on August 31, 1803, beginning a 3-year, legendary journey across the country and into American lore.

Left Pittsburgh this day at 11 ock with a party of 11 hands 7 of which are soldiers, a pilot and three young men on trial they having proposed to go with me throughout the voyage, wrote Meriwether Lewis in his journal on the first day of the expedition.

The efforts of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and 33 permanent party members known as the Corps of Discovery, to chart the area between the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast changed the course of America. Between 1803 and 1806, the Lewis & Clark expedition with "undaunted courage," navigated the difficult waters of the Ohio River, claimed and charted a vast new territory, made contact and established trading relationships with Indian nations, uncovered new scientific wonders, and experienced adventures that captured the imagination of Americans and the world.