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VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Shirley Griffith, with the VOA Special Englishprogram Explorations. Today we finish the story of Lewis and Clarkand the land they explored in the American Northwest. We also tellabout plans to celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of theirexploration.
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VOICE ONE:
We have told how Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led a groupof men and one woman across the American Northwest. The group wasknown as the Corps of Discovery. They began their trip on Mayfourteenth, eighteen-oh-four, in Saint Louis, near the central partof the country. It was more than one year before they reached thePacific coast near the Columbia River. They had traveled by river,horse and foot more than six-thousand-six-hundred kilometers.
VOICE TWO:
President Thomas Jefferson asked Lewis to lead an exploration ofthe northwestern part of the country. He wanted Lewis to learn asmuch about the land, people, animals and plants as he could.Jefferson asked that Lewis write about the progress of his groupeach day. Lewis and Clark kept very careful records. Often, Lewiswould use more than one-thousand words to tell about an animal or abird. Both men drew maps and pictures of what they saw.
VOICE ONE:
The Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific Ocean near the presentcity of Astoria, Oregon. The group suffered a lot during thatwinter. It was not very cold, but it was always wet. It rainedalmost every day during the winter months between eighteen-oh-fiveand eighteen-oh-six. Lewis wrote that everything got wet and stayedwet. Many of the men became sick. The men had little to do excepthunt for food. They also made new clothing from animal skins for thereturn home.
VOICE TWO:
William Clark organized most of the hunting during the longwinter months. At the same time, he worked on his second map. Themap showed where the group had been since it left the area that nowis the north central state of North Dakota. It showed their travelsall the way from there to Fort Clatsop on the West Coast. Clark drewa correct picture of the American West for the first time.
VOICE ONE:
Meriwether Lewis stayed inside Fort Clatsop and wrote, day afterday, of the things they found. He wrote information aboutone-hundred different animals they had seen. Of these, eleven birds,two fish, and eleven mammals had not been recorded before. He alsowrote about plants and trees. He had never seen many of thesebefore. Neither had modern science known about them. He tried tomake his reports scientific. Modern scientists say his informationis still good. They say he was extremely careful and providedvaluable information for the time. Experts say Lewis wrote more likea scientist of today than one of his own century.
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VOICE TWO:
On March twenty-third, eighteen-oh-six, the explorers left FortClatsop and started back up the Columbia River. Progress was slow asthe Corps of Discovery climbed higher toward the mountains. Theytraded with Indians for horses. In the month of May they stayed witha tribe called the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce said it would not bepossible for the explorers to cross the mountains then. The snow wasstill too deep. Lewis did not agree. The group went forward. Theyfound the Nez Perce were right. The snow was several meters deep.They were forced to stop and return down the mountain. The Nez Perceagreed to provide guides to take them through the mountains. TheCorps of Discovery finally crossed the mountains in the last days ofJune.
VOICE ONE:
Lewis divided the Corps of Discovery when they left themountains. He wanted three different groups to go three differentways to learn more about the land. Lewis and his group soon foundIndians. They were members of the Piegan tribe, part of theBlackfeet, a war-like group. At first the Indians were friendly.Then, one tried to take a gun from one of the men. A fight began.Two Indians were killed. It was the only time during the trip thatany fighting took place between native Americans and the Corps ofDiscovery. The fight forced Lewis’s group to leave the area veryquickly.
VOICE TWO:
The three groups met again in August of eighteen-oh-six.Traveling on the rivers was easier that in the beginning of theirtrip. The explorers now were going in the same direction as thecurrent. They were in a hurry to get home. They had been away fortwo years and five months. Each minute they traveled brought themcloser to their homes, their families and friends. On Septemberthird, they saw several men traveling on the river. They learnedthat President Jefferson had been re-elected and was still presidentof the United States.
VOICE ONE:
A few days later, one member of the group asked Lewis and Clarkif he could remain behind. He wanted to go with a group of furtraders that was returning to the area of the Yellowstone River. Hisname was John Colter. Colter returned up the river and into the wildland. Later Colter became the first American to see the YellowstoneValley, which became the first national park, Yellowstone. He alsobecame famous as one of the first mountain men in American historyto open the way to the Rocky Mountains.
VOICE ONE:
The Corps of Discovery reached Saint Louis on Septembertwenty-third, eighteen-oh-six. They had very little food or suppliesleft, but they were back. Large celebrations were held in the smalltown. Lewis and Clark learned that most people believed they weredead. Lewis immediately wrote a long report to President Jeffersonand placed it in the mail. A few days later President Jefferson knewthey had arrived home safely and their trip had been a greatsuccess.
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VOICE TWO:
Experts today say the Lewis and Clark trip was one of the mostimportant events in American history. They also agree that no twomen could have done a better job or been more successful. MeriwetherLewis and William Clark added greatly to the knowledge of theAmerican Northwest. Clark’s maps provided information about hugeareas that had been unknown. Lewis discovered and told aboutone-hundred-seventy-eight new plants, most of them from the farWest. He also found one-hundred-twenty-two different kinds ofanimals that had been recorded. There was also one great failure,however. Lewis and Clark were not able to find a way to reach thePacific Ocean using rivers. There was no northwest passage thatcould be used by boats.
VOICE ONE:
The Lewis and Clark expedition was also a political success. Ithelped the United States make a legal claim to a huge amount of landthat had been bought by President Jefferson from France. The UnitedStates bought the land just as the Corps of Discovery began itstrip. This land is now the middle part of the United States. It wascalled the Louisiana Territory. President Jefferson wanted thefuture United States to include this land, and all other landbetween the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
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VOICE TWO:
Now it is almost two-hundred years since the Corps of Discoverymade its historic trip. The United States has many plans tocelebrate. Some celebrations will continue until the yeartwo-thousand six. Committees in the cities, towns and states thatLewis and Clark passed through are planning the anniversarycelebrations.
The National Park Service is also preparing special events. Newbooks have been published, newspaper stories written and televisionprograms produced about Lewis and Clark. And the public is onceagain discovering the writings of the two men who led the Corps ofDiscovery. Critics say the word pictures that Lewis created are asclear today as when they were written.
VOICE ONE:
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were the first educated whiteAmericans to travel across the land that would become the UnitedStates. They wrote about things the American public had ever seenbefore. They saw Native Americans before the Indians were influencedby other cultures. Their success had a lasting influence.
They showed Americans it was possible to travel across thecountry and settle in the far West. Lewis and Clark’s explorationwas the beginning of the American campaign to settle that far away,wild land.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. This isShirley Griffith.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week at this time foranother Explorations program, in Special English, here on the Voiceof America.