In 1803, the United States doubled in size as the result of the Louisiana Purchase; and the dominant movement in American society of the nineteenth century, westward expansion, had its origins with the men that President Jefferson sent out to explore the newly-won territory, the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition. The significance of their success in American history is undeniable. As Archibald Hanna put in his introduction to the 1961 reprint of the expedition's official account, Lewis and Clark started "the westward procession, first of trappers, then of settlers, that was the really decisive factor in making Oregon American rather than British" (x).
In addition to mapping the water route of the hoped-for Northwest Passage, Lewis and Clark were to learn as much as possible about the people they met for the sake of future commerce. Jefferson wanted exhaustive ethnographies that would eventually aid commerce with the Indians and "those who may endeavor to civilize and instruct them" (xxii).
Fulfilling Jefferson's directive to catalogue the plants and animals they encountered for the education and preparation of those who would follow, Lewis and Clark focused on plants with economic uses and gave detailed descriptions of how they differed from closely related species already known in the United States. Despite their dependence on the Indians they met for food and guidance, Lewis and Clark surveyed the new territory with the assumption that the land would be populated and controlled by the United States. After an extensive description of the soil and climate of the lands along the Rocky Mountains, their account summarizes: "In short, this district affords many advantages to the settlers, and if properly cultivated, would yield every object necessary for the subsistence and comfort of civilized man" (672). Unfortunately, this region was already populated by the Shoshones and the Chopunnish, whom the account goes on to describe in detail without a trace of irony or conflict.
This ability to see populated land as open to settlers spelled out the future of the West, as it was the settlers who eventually sealed the doom of so many Indian nations by the simple expedient of taking their land and making it private property. While Lewis and Clark were envisioning the future of the West in trade and settlement, they were also looking at the end of many cultures that would be swept away by a tide of white settlers, and preparing a careful ethnography of the people whose help saved the expedition which ultimately led to their displacement and destruction.
Lewis and Clark began the westward expansion of the United States, then, in their roles as governors of the Louisiana and Missouri Territories, respectively, criticized and resisted the worst excesses and abuses of that same movement. Their journals represent a wealth of botanical, zoological, and ethnographic information collected with an eye toward the eventual domination of North American politics and economics by the United States.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and
employer.
© Regents of the University of Minnesota, 1997.