Man: APRIL 8, 1804.
HONORED PARENTS,
I AM NOW ON AN EXPEDITION TO THE WESTWARD
THROUGH THE INTERIOR PARTS OF NORTH AMERICA
WITH CAPTAIN LEWIS AND CAPTAIN CLARK.
WE ARE TO ASCEND THE MISSOURI RIVER WITH A BOAT
AS FAR AS IT IS NAVIGABLE
AND THEN GO BY LAND TO THE WESTERN OCEAN,
IF NOTHING PREVENTS.
Narrator: ONE AFTERNOON IN THE SPRING OF 1804,
NEARLY 4 DOZEN MEN CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI
AND STARTED UP THE MISSOURI RIVER,
STRUGGLING AGAINST ITS THICK, MUDDY CURRENT.
Man: WE EXPECT TO BE GONE 18 MONTHS OR TWO YEARS,
AND IF WE MAKE GREAT DISCOVERIES--
AS WE EXPECT--
THE UNITED STATES HAS PROMISED TO MAKE US GREAT REWARDS.
FOR FEAR OF ACCIDENTS,
I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT I LEFT $200 IN CASH,
AND IF I SHOULD NOT LIVE TO RETURN,
MY HEIRS CAN GET THAT AND ALL THE PAY DUE ME
FROM THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.
I WILL WRITE NEXT WINTER
IF I HAVE A CHANCE.
SERGEANT JOHN ORDWAY.
Narrator: THEY WERE BEGINNING
THE MOST IMPORTANT EXPEDITION IN AMERICAN HISTORY--
THE UNITED STATES' FIRST OFFICIAL EXPLORATION
INTO UNKNOWN SPACES
AND A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE OF THEIR YOUNG NATION.
THEY WOULD BECOME THE FIRST UNITED STATES CITIZENS
TO EXPERIENCE THE GREAT PLAINS--
THE IMMENSITY OF ITS SKIES,
THE RICH SPLENDOR OF ITS WILDLIFE,
THE HARSH RIGORS OF ITS WINTERS.
THEY WOULD BE THE FIRST AMERICAN CITIZENS
TO SEE THE DAUNTING PEAKS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
THE FIRST TO STRUGGLE OVER THEM,
THE FIRST TO CROSS THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
TO WHERE THE RIVERS FLOW WEST.
AND AFTER ENCOUNTERING COLD, HUNGER, DANGER,
AND WONDERS BEYOND BELIEF,
THEY WOULD BECOME THE FIRST OF THEIR NATION
TO REACH THE PACIFIC OCEAN BY LAND.
IT WOULD BE THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF THEIR LIVES.
Man: IT'S A GREAT STORY.
IT'S A HUMAN STORY.
IT'S A STORY OF THOSE WHO WENT FIRST.
THEY WERE FIRST. THEY LED THE WAY.
THEY OPENED THE TRAIL.
Man: THE BEST AUTHENTICATED ACCOUNTS INFORMED US
THAT WE WERE TO PASS THROUGH A COUNTRY
POSSESSED BY NUMEROUS POWERFUL AND WARLIKE NATIONS OF SAVAGES
OF GIGANTIC STATURE,
FIERCE, TREACHEROUS, AND CRUEL...
AND PARTICULARLY HOSTILE TO WHITE MEN.
SERGEANT PATRICK GASS.
Narrator: THEY WOULD TELL PEOPLE
WHO HAD BEEN OCCUPYING THE LAND
FOR HUNDREDS OF GENERATIONS
THAT THE WEST NOW BELONGED TO SOMEONE ELSE,
YET THEY WOULD MEET MORE FRIENDS THAN ENEMIES
AND ONLY ONCE FIRE THEIR GUNS IN ANGER.
THEY CARRIED THE MOST MODERN WEAPONS OF THEIR TIME,
BUT IN THEIR TWO MOMENTS OF GREATEST NEED,
WOMEN WOULD INTERVENE ON THEIR BEHALF,
AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN,
THEY WOULD BE SAVED BY THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS.
THEY WERE LED BY TWO UTTERLY DIFFERENT MEN--
ONE OUTGOING AND SELF-CONFIDENT,
THE OTHER BRILLIANT BUT TROUBLED.
REPRESENTING A NEW NATION
THAT CELEBRATED INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT,
THEY WOULD RELY INSTEAD ON COOPERATION AND TEAMWORK.
THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY,
YET THEY WOULD FAIL TO DISCOVER
THE THING THEY HAD BEEN SENT MOST OF ALL TO FIND.
THEIR REAL DISCOVERY WOULD BE THE LAND ITSELF
AND THE PROMISES IT HELD.
Man: IT'S AMERICA'S STORY, I THINK.
THEY TURNED THE NATION AND FACED IT WEST,
AND THAT'S WHERE THE FUTURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN.
THAT'S WHERE HOPE AND POSSIBILITY HAVE BEEN.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT DRAWS US TO LEWIS AND CLARK.
IT'S ABOUT POSSIBILITIES. IT'S ABOUT WHAT COULD BE--
SOMETIMES WHAT IS AND SOMETIMES WHAT ISN'T.
BUT IT'S ABOUT POTENTIAL,
THE FUTURE, AND HOPE.
Man: CONFIDENTIAL-- GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE
AND OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
THE RIVER MISSOURI AND THE INDIANS INHABITING IT
ARE NOT AS WELL-KNOWN AS IS DESIRABLE.
AN INTELLIGENT OFFICER WITH 10 OR 12 CHOSEN MEN
MIGHT EXPLORE THE WHOLE LINE,
EVEN TO THE WESTERN OCEAN.
THE APPROPRIATION OF $2,500
WOULD COVER THE UNDERTAKING.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: IN 1801,
WHEN THOMAS JEFFERSON BECAME PRESIDENT,
2 OUT OF EVERY 3 AMERICANS
LIVED WITHIN 50 MILES OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.
ONLY 4 ROADS CROSSED THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS.
THE UNITED STATES ENDED AT THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
JEFFERSON HAD ALWAYS BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT THE WEST.
HIS PERSONAL LIBRARY AT MONTICELLO
CONTAINED MORE BOOKS ABOUT THE REGION
THAN ANY OTHER LIBRARY IN THE WORLD,
BUT HIS BOOKS TOLD HIM OF A WEST
WHERE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS STILL ROAMED,
OF ERUPTING VOLCANOES, HILLS OF PURE SALT,
AND BLUE-EYED INDIANS WHO SPOKE WELSH.
JEFFERSON'S BOOKS ALSO DESCRIBED A NORTHWEST PASSAGE--
AN EASY WATER ROUTE
SOMEWHERE FAR BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI
THAT WOULD LINK THE ATLANTIC WITH THE PACIFIC,
MAKE POSSIBLE DIRECT TRADE WITH ALL THE ORIENT,
AND UNLOCK THE WEALTH OF NORTH AMERICA.
SINCE THE TIME OF COLUMBUS,
THE SPANISH, FRENCH, AND BRITISH
HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR IT.
WHICHEVER NATION DISCOVERED THE PASSAGE
AND CONTROLLED IT, JEFFERSON WAS CERTAIN,
WOULD CONTROL THE DESTINY OF THE CONTINENT.
TO LEAD HIS AMERICAN EXPEDITION, JEFFERSON TURNED
TO HIS 28-YEAR-OLD PERSONAL SECRETARY, MERIWETHER LEWIS.
A SKILLED FRONTIERSMAN AND AMATEUR SCIENTIST,
LEWIS HAD GROWN UP WITHIN SIGHT OF MONTICELLO
AND HAD MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF
AS A PROMISING ARMY OFFICER
BEFORE JEFFERSON SUMMONED HIM TO WASHINGTON.
INITIALLY, I THINK, JEFFERSON IS THE PERSON
WHO PUT HIS SPIRIT AND A GOOD PIECE OF HIS MIND--
THIS DEISTIC RATIONALISM--
INTO THE BRAIN OF MERIWETHER LEWIS,
AND IN MANY WAYS IN THE MONTHS BEFORE THE EXPEDITION,
IT WAS JEFFERSON WHO BECAME
SOMETHING OF MERIWETHER LEWIS' FATHER--
HELPED REMAKE THIS MAN.
Narrator: SOME CONSIDERED LEWIS AN UNLIKELY CHOICE
FOR SUCH AN IMPORTANT EXPEDITION.
HE SOMETIMES DRANK TOO MUCH,
AND JEFFERSON HIMSELF HAD NOTED WHAT HE CALLED
"OCCASIONAL DEPRESSIONS OF THE MIND" IN LEWIS,
BUT HE STILL CONSIDERED HIM
THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB.
LEWIS IN TURN ASKED AN OLD FRIEND
TO HELP HIM LEAD THE EXPEDITION.
Meriwether Lewis: MY FRIEND,
IF THERE IS ANYTHING IN THIS ENTERPRISE
WHICH WOULD INDUCE YOU TO PARTICIPATE WITH ME
IN ITS FATIGUES, ITS DANGERS, AND ITS HONORS,
BELIEVE ME-- THERE IS NO MAN ON EARTH
WITH WHOM I SHOULD FEEL EQUAL PLEASURE IN SHARING THEM
AS WITH YOURSELF.
Narrator: HIS FRIEND WAS WILLIAM CLARK.
BORN IN VIRGINIA, HE HAD SPENT MOST OF HIS LIFE
ON THE OHIO AND KENTUCKY FRONTIER,
WHERE HE HAD LEARNED
BOTH TO FIGHT AND TO NEGOTIATE WITH INDIANS.
HE WAS, ONE ACQUAINTANCE SAID,
"OF SOLID AND PROMISING PARTS
AND AS BRAVE AS CAESAR."
CLARK WAS 4 YEARS OLDER THAN LEWIS
AND HAD ONCE BEEN HIS COMMANDER.
HE WAS LESS FORMALLY EDUCATED,
BUT WITH MORE PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
AND A STEADIER TEMPERAMENT.
Man: DEAR LEWIS, THIS IS AN UNDERTAKING
FRAUGHT WITH MANY DIFFICULTIES,
BUT, MY FRIEND, I DO ASSURE YOU
THAT NO MAN LIVES
WITH WHOM I WOULD PREFER TO TAKE SUCH A TRIP.
MY FRIEND, I JOIN YOU WITH HAND AND HEART.
WILLIAM CLARK.
I THINK IF WILLIAM CLARK WALKED
INTO THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW,
THAT--THAT INSTANTLY I WOULD LIKE HIM A LOT.
I THINK HE'S AN INCREDIBLY BRIGHT GUY.
HE WAS INVENTIVE. HE WAS A LITTLE LAID BACK.
HE DIDN'T TEND TO GET AS UPSET ABOUT THINGS AS LEWIS DID.
I THINK LEWIS KNEW THAT HE NEEDED SOMEBODY
TO HELP HIM ON THE EXPEDITION.
I THINK SOMEWHERE DEEP DOWN
HE KNEW THAT HE NEEDED SOMEBODY HE COULD COUNT ON,
AND THE PERSON HE COULD COUNT THE MOST ON
WAS WILLIAM CLARK.
THEY'RE TWO VERY DIFFERENT MEN,
BUT THEY FORM A UNIT,
AND I THINK AT THE CORE
OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
IS A BOND, A FRIENDSHIP, A BROTHERHOOD
BETWEEN TWO VERY DIFFERENT MEN.
Narrator: IN THE SPRING OF 1803, AT JEFFERSON'S URGING,
LEWIS WENT TO PHILADELPHIA,
HOME OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.
THERE HE STUDIED FOR MONTHS
WITH THE NATION'S LEADING SCIENTISTS,
LEARNING BOTANY, ZOOLOGY, MINERALOGY,
AND CELESTIAL NAVIGATION.
HE BEGAN BUYING SUPPLIES-- GUNPOWDER, LEAD,
AND RIFLES OF THE MOST ADVANCED DESIGN,
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, TENTS, AND WOOLEN BLANKETS,
GIFTS FOR THE INDIAN TRIBES HE EXPECTED TO MEET,
AND BARRELS OF WHISKEY.
HE LEARNED MEDICINE
FROM THE MOST CELEBRATED PHYSICIAN OF THE DAY--
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH--
AND BOUGHT FROM HIM 600 DOSES
OF THE DOCTOR'S FAVORITE CURE-ALL--
POWERFUL LAXATIVES
EVERYONE CALLED "RUSH'S THUNDERBOLTS."
[FIREWORKS AND CHEERING]
THEN, ON JULY 4, 1803, CAME NEWS
THAT DRAMATICALLY EXPANDED THE EXPEDITION'S IMPORTANCE.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, THE EMPEROR OF FRANCE,
HAD OFFERED TO SELL THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY--
THE VAST AREA
BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS--
TO THE UNITED STATES FOR $15 MILLION.
IT WAS A SUM NEARLY TWICE THE FEDERAL BUDGET,
BUT JEFFERSON NEVER HESITATED.
FOR JUST 3 CENTS AN ACRE,
HE MORE THAN DOUBLED THE SIZE OF HIS COUNTRY.
IT WAS THE GREATEST LAND DEAL IN HISTORY.
Ambrose: JEFFERSON HAD A MIND
THAT ENCOMPASSED THE CONTINENT,
AND HE ENVISIONED THE CREATION OF A GREAT NATION
THAT WOULD STRETCH FROM SEA TO SEA,
THAT WOULD BE BOUND TOGETHER
BY A POLITICAL CONCEPT--
THE IDEA OF LIBERTY--
AND HE WANTED TO SPREAD THAT LIBERTY
ALL THE WAY OUT TO THE WEST COAST.
Narrator: AT LEAST ON PAPER,
NEARLY HALF OF THE WEST NOW BELONGED TO THE UNITED STATES,
BUT IT WAS STILL A CONTESTED AREA.
SPAIN CONTROLLED TEXAS, CALIFORNIA,
AND ALL OF THE SOUTHWEST.
ENGLAND HAD CANADA
AND A CLAIM ON THE OREGON COUNTRY,
AND IN THE FALL OF 1803,
AS MERIWETHER LEWIS AND HIS FRIEND WILLIAM CLARK
MADE THEIR WAY
TO THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
NO ONE KNEW FOR SURE
WHAT THOMAS JEFFERSON HAD JUST BOUGHT.
THE CAPTAINS WOULD SPEND THE WINTER
OUTFITTING THEIR BIG KEELBOAT
AND ASSEMBLING THE ROUGH AND UNDISCIPLINED FRONTIERSMEN
WHO WOULD MAKE UP
WHAT THEIR PRESIDENT CALLED "THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY."
Thomas Jefferson: CAPTAIN LEWIS,
THE OBJECT OF YOUR MISSION
IS TO EXPLORE THE MISSOURI RIVER
AND SUCH PRINCIPAL STREAM OF IT
AS BY ITS COURSE AND COMMUNICATION
WITH THE WATERS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN
MAY OFFER THE MOST DIRECT AND PRACTICABLE
WATER COMMUNICATION ACROSS THIS CONTINENT.
THE ACQUISITION OF THE COUNTRY
THROUGH WHICH YOU ARE TO PASS
HAS INSPIRED THE PUBLIC GENERALLY
WITH A GREAT DEAL OF INTEREST
IN YOUR ENTERPRISE.
PRESENT MY SALUTATIONS TO MR. CLARK.
ASSURE ALL YOUR PARTY
THAT WE HAVE OUR EYES TURNED ON THEM
WITH ANXIETY FOR THEIR SAFETY.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Narrator: ON MAY 14, 1804,
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
LEFT THEIR WINTER ENCAMPMENT IN ILLINOIS,
CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,
AND FINALLY HEADED UP THE MISSOURI.
Allen: WHEN THE ASTRONAUTS WENT TO THE MOON,
THEY'D SEEN PICTURES OF IT.
THEY KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT.
WHEN LEWIS AND CLARK HEADED OUT,
THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST NOTION OF WHAT TO EXPECT.
IT WAS MORE UNKNOWN TO THEM THAN TO THE ASTRONAUTS.
Man: MAY 25th-- SET OUT EARLY THIS MORNING
AND PROCEEDED ON.
PASSED A FRENCH VILLAGE CALLED LA CHARRETTE.
THIS IS THE LAST SETTLEMENT OF WHITES ON THIS RIVER.
SERGEANT CHARLES FLOYD.
Narrator: SERGEANT CHARLES FLOYD
WAS A 22-YEAR-OLD KENTUCKIAN--
"A YOUNG MAN OF MUCH MERIT," LEWIS NOTED.
BEYOND THAT, NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT FLOYD
OR THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CREW--
"STOUT, HEALTHY, UNMARRIED MEN," LEWIS CALLED THEM,
"ACCUSTOMED TO THE WOODS
AND CAPABLE OF BEARING BODILY FATIGUE."
THEY CAME FROM NEARLY EVERY CORNER OF THE NATION.
JOHN ORDWAY WAS A YOUNG SOLDIER
FROM HEBRON, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE WAS A TAILOR FROM VIRGINIA,
AND PATRICK GASS WAS A CARPENTER
WHO CAME FROM IRISH STOCK IN PENNSYLVANIA.
REUBEN AND JOSEPH FIELD WERE BROTHERS.
GEORGE DROUILLARD, FRANCOIS LABICHE,
AND PIERRE CRUZATTE
WERE THE SONS OF WHITE FATHERS AND INDIAN MOTHERS.
IN ADDITION, LEWIS TOOK WITH HIM
HIS BIG NEWFOUNDLAND DOG...
AND WILLIAM CLARK BROUGHT ALONG
A SLAVE HE HAD OWNED SINCE CHILDHOOD,
A BLACK MAN NAMED YORK.
Meriwether Lewis: SUCH IS THE VELOCITY OF THE CURRENT
THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST ITS FORCE
BY MEANS OF OARS OR POLES
IN THE MAIN CHANNEL OF THE RIVER.
THE EDDIES, THEREFORE, WHICH GENERALLY EXIST
ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER OF THE RIVER
ARE SOUGHT BY THE NAVIGATOR,
BUT THE BASE OF THE RIVERBANKS,
BEING COMPOSED OF A FINE, LIGHT SAND,
IS EASILY REMOVED BY THE WATER,
AND THE BANKS,
BEING UNABLE TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES LONGER,
TUMBLE INTO THE RIVER WITH TREMENDOUS FORCE,
DESTROYING EVERYTHING WITHIN THEIR REACH.
MERIWETHER LEWIS.
Narrator: THE BIG KEELBOAT WAS RAMMED BY DRIFTING LOGS,
GOT STUCK ON SAND BARS,
HAD ITS MAST SNAPPED BY OVERHANGING TREES.
OFTEN THE ONLY WAY TO PROCEED
WAS FOR THE MEN TO WADE ALONG THE MUDDY BANKS
AND PULL THE BOAT WITH A ROPE.
Allen: THE MISSOURI RIVER WAS
A BIG, BROAD, WILD, TOUGH RIVER IN THOSE DAYS.
THEY'D GET UP IN THE MORNING,
AND THEN THEY'D HAVE TO GET THIS BIG, HEAVY KEELBOAT--
HAD TONS AND TONS OF SUPPLIES IN IT.
THEY HAD TO GET IT AGAINST THE CURRENT.
CURRENT'S GOING 5, 6 MILES AN HOUR--
JUST PUSHING THEM,
TRYING TO PUSH THEM BACK TO THE MISSISSIPPI,
AND EVERY DAY THEY'VE GOT TO GO A LITTLE BIT FARTHER.
Narrator: 14 MILES WAS A GOOD DAY'S PROGRESS,
BUT AFTER TWO LONG