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Internet Resources for
Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery

by Charles R. Coon, Adjunct Professor of Education,
State University of New York at Oswego

Draft of Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801. Library of Congress.Thomas Jefferson, in his First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1801) referred to the United States as "possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendents to the thousandth and thousandth generation…" And that was BEFORE he purchased the Louisiana Territory. In a letter in 1803, Jefferson told Meriwether Lewis that "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, and such principle streams of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean…." The full letter to Lewis can be found at http://www.mt.net/~rojomo/landc.htm. It's quite interesting and might well be used in class for a variety of purposes.

2003 marks the bicentennial anniversary of the beginning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, later named by historians as The Corps of Discovery. Not surprisingly, such a remarkable occasion is marked by a plethora of web sites. In fact, if you type "Lewis and Clark" into the Google search engine, you come up with at least 1,720,000 hits! And if you modify your search and add "and Jefferson" to the equation, the number is still a mind-boggling 354,000 hits. I've taken a look at quite a few of the sites (but not quite 1,720,000, or even 354,000…). A lot of them are offering trips that cover a part, or all, of the original route—at least as far as it is understood today. Others are offering merchandise. Some are state sites that Lewis and Clark passed through. And it seems like just about every branch of the U.S. government has gotten into the act in one way or another. For social studies teachers there are a number of them that are wonderful resources. A few of them are shared below.

Probably the first place to head is Discovering Lewis and Clark (http://www.lewis-clark.org/choice.htm). It calls itself a "progressive web site currently containing more than 1,400 pages." It begins with a 19-part synopsis of the expedition entitled A Western Adventure—A National Epic, by Harry Fritz, professor of History at the University of Montana, Missoula. It's good background if you're not that familiar with the journey and don't have time to read Undaunted Courage. It has a wonderful interactive map and has a number of navigable areas under the headings "Discovery Paths" (subtitles include "Issues and Values," "Native Nations," "Natural History," "Technology," and "Visions"). There are also a large number of excerpts from the Lewis and Clark journals. It really is an excellent place to start.

Not surprisingly, the National Archives (http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/lewis_and_clark/lewis_and_clark.html) has developed some excellent lessons related to some of the documents. The site offers an abbreviated overview of the expedition, and then provides fully developed lesson plans that involve the National Archives holdings. Included are not just written documents—although there are a number of those—but also photographs and drawings. The National Park Service has also created a site called The Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery (http://www.nps.gov/jeff/LewisClark2/Education/CurriculumGuideMain.htm) for teachers that includes K-8 lesson plans, including "Grizzly Bears," "The Corps as Community," "Lewis and Clark: Researchers," and "Putting it All Together: A Lewis and Clark Festival." Side Note: there is also a lesson on "Education in St. Louis in 1804" that's titled "If You Went to School at the Time of Lewis and Clark" that's really quite interesting. The National Endowment for the Humanities site is titled On this day with Lewis and Clark (http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=297) Meriwether Lewis, as he departed, wrote: "We are now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden…" Lessons include: "What They Didn't Know," "If it's November 24th This Must be Astoria," "What did Jefferson Say, Anyway?," "Scientists Study the Corps' Diaries," and "Mapping the Discoveries of the Corps." The Bureau of Land Management, US Department of the Interior (http://www.id.blm.gov/lc/corpsdiscovery_1.htm) has as site that is really a series of biographical articles about some of the members of the Corps of Discovery, above and beyond the two principals, and includes explanations of the selection process. It is perhaps one of the more fascinating web sites.

The Sierra Club has a couple of Lewis and Clark sites that, not surprisingly, have an environmentally-friendly orientation to them: Follow in the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark (http://www.sierraclub.org/lewisandclark) has several sub-sections, including "Then and Now, What's Different What's the Same?" and "Features, a comic strip, games, photo gallery, and more!" The other site is titled Protecting the Lands Explored by Lewis and Clark, 1805–1905–2005 (http://www.waterplanet.ws/lewisandclark/lc.htm).

"Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804-1954," United States postage stamp, 1954.National Geographic has a couple of lessons for elementary and middle level social studies. The first is "The Object of this Mission is…" (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/lessons/13/g68/object.html). The overview says that "in this lesson, students will be pitted against each other for the 'best' land and resources." The second lesson is titled "Lewis and Clark: Why Explore the Vast Unknown?" (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/16/g35/unknown.html). They state "In this lesson students will interpret a map of the West as it was known at the time, learn what President Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis to accomplish, and explain why the expedition was important to the future of the country". The National Council for Economic Education has a webquest that was developed in cooperation with National Geographic that is titled Economic Spotter: Lewis and Clark's Expedition Faces Scarcity (http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.cfm?lesson=EM314). It's a webquest, where "you will travel back in time to the early 1800's in a time machine and travel with Lewis and Clark," where you will make life and death decisions based on scarcity. Speaking of webquests… The Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Webquest can be found at (http://www.tsc.k12.in.us/stucurr/webquests/lewisclark/clark3.htm). According to the instructions, "you will choose a role as a member of the Corps of Discovery. In that role you will gather information to inform the President about one of the following areas: A) Geography; B) Native Tribes; C) Plants and Animals; D) Supplies required for the journey. The Gateway site EdGate (http://www.edgate.com/lewisandclark/lesson_plans.html) has a number of lesson plans associated with Lewis and Clark. Lesson plan topics include "The Mapping of the West," "Cartography Concepts," "Indian Country," "Mapping on the Trail," and "Filling the Empty Space." The last lesson is especially interesting….

PBS has a terrific site titled Lewis and Clark (http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/). It has lessons for social studies, math, science, and language arts. A sampling includes: Lesson 1—The student will examine the historical context of the expedition and trace the path followed by the Corps of Discovery; Lesson 3—The student will practice cartography skills; and Lesson 5—The student will identify the structure of the Dakota Nation and practice communication skills in the context of the conflict. In addition, the site includes sections titled "Inside the Corps," "The Native Americans," "The Archive," "Living History," "Into the Unknown," and "Forum with Ken Burns." "Inside the Corps," for example, provides a partial list of the supplies Lewis and Clark brought with them including 193 pounds of "portable soup."

Thomas JeffersonThere are a number of web sites that provide links to Lewis and Clark Resources. One is Poplar Forrest's The Journey That Changed America (http://www.poplarforest.org/lewisclarklinks.htm). Another site is Lewis and Clark on the Information Superhighway (http://www.lcarchive.org). The author, Jay Rasmussen, warns that "They are included without much regard to the quality and accuracy of the material presented and encompass the good, the bad, and the ugly." A third site is from Lewis and Clark.com (http://www.lewisandclark.com/links/links.html).

Bernard DeVoto, in The Journals of Lewis and Clark, referred to the journals as "the first report on the West, on the United States over the hill and beyond the sunset, on the province of the American future. There has never been another so excellent or so influential."