Resources
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Louisiana & Lewis & ClarkIt may not have been Constitutional, but it was one of the greatest land deals in history and doubled the size of the young United States.
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Podcast- Lewis and ClarkIn 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the nation’s size overnight. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were tasked by President Thomas Jefferson with sailing up the Missouri River – and to the Pacific coast (if possible) – to solidify the young nation’s claim to the region. The result is one of the most famous journeys of exploration in history.
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SacagaweaAlthough spelled many different ways in the original journals of expedition members, the third syllable always starts with a hard g. Sacagawea lived with the Hidatsa just before joining the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and there is no soft g in the Hidatsa language. Sacaga means “bird” and wea means “woman” in the Hidatsa language. She is best known for joining Lewis and Clark on their expedition westward from the Mississippi to the Pacific Coast.
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Sacagawea- PodcastResponsible for leading the first expedition across North America in 1804, Sacagawea was only 17 when she made the trek, while pregnant, across the continent. The daughter of a Native American chief, Sacagawea was captured and enslaved by an opposing tribe and then sold as a bride to a canadian fur trapper.
Research & Reference
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Lewis and Clark Expedition: Credo Reference1803–6, U.S. expedition that explored the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and the country beyond as far as the Pacific Ocean. Thomas Jefferson had long considered the project of a western expedition, having encouraged John Ledyard when he proposed such an expedition in the 1780s, and as president he contemplated the matter in earnest and discussed it with his private secretary, Capt. Meriwether Lewis.
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Sacagawea: Credo ReferenceSacagawea was an interpreter and guide for and the only woman member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806. She was born somewhere between 1784 and 1788 into the Lehmi band of the Shoshone Indians who lived in the eastern part of the Salmon River area of present-day central Idaho.
Streaming Media
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Discoveries of Lewis and ClarkFollow the fascinating journey of the two explorers who mapped the Louisiana Purchase between 1804 and 1806. Along the way, you'll learn how Lewis and Clark fit into the tradition of explorers looking for a water route to the Pacific, and you'll consider the political (and geographic) history of the Louisiana Purchase.
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Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery—A Film by Ken BurnsInvolving U.S. soldiers, Canadian boatmen, an African-American slave, and a female Shoshone guide, the journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across North America was perhaps the most significant expedition in U.S. history. This two-part series from Ken Burns re-creates that early-19th-century search for the Northwest Passage—a quest which introduced Jeffersonian America to the continent’s interior and its deep-rooted indigenous societies. Distributed by PBS Distribution. 2-part series, 43 minutes each.
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Sacagewea - Heroine of the Lewis and Clark JourneyShe was an expectant mother, but she endured every hardship these seasoned soldiers experienced. Without her, the Corps of Discovery would have failed. This program re-enacts her journey in her own words. Taken captive as a child during a raid, adopted into the tribe of her captors, and then married off, her adventures have only just begun. After Lewis & Clark journey to her village on assignment from President Jefferson, Sacagawea joins the expedition in seeking a northwest passage to the sea. Digging up edible roots and negotiating for horses, she saves the Corps of Discovery, time and time again.
Perspectives
Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes
At the heart of this landmark collection of essays rests a single question: What impact, good or bad, immediate or long-range, did Lewis and Clark's journey have on the Indians whose homelands they traversed? The nine writers in this volume each provide their own unique answers; from Pulitzer prize-winner N. Scott Momaday, who offers a haunting essay evoking the voices of the past; to Debra Magpie Earling's illumination of her ancestral family, their survival, and the magic they use to this day; to Mark N. Trahant's attempt to trace his own blood back to Clark himself; and Roberta Conner's comparisons of the explorer's journals with the accounts of the expedition passed down to her. Incisive and compelling, these essays shed new light on our understanding of this landmark journey into the American West.
Sacajawea
In the saga of early western exploration a young Shoshoni Indian girl named Sacajawea is famed as a guide and interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Far Northwest between 1804 and 1806. Her fame rests upon her contributions to the expedition. In guiding them through the wilderness, in gathering wild foods, and, above all, in serving as an ambassadress to Indian tribes along the way she helped to assure the success of the expedition. This book retraces Sacajawea?s path across the Northwest, from the Mandan Indian villages in present-day South Dakota to the Pacific Ocean, and back. On the journey Sacajawea was accompanied by her ne?er-do-well French-Canadian husband, Toussaint Charboneau, and her infant son, Baptiste, who became a favorite of the members of the expedition, especially Captain William Clark. The author presents a colorful account of Sacajawea?s journeys with Lewis and Clark and an objective evaluation of the controversial accounts of her later years.
Lewis and Clark and the Crossing of North America
Tells the story of the most important expedition in American history, led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Includes the stories of the young army men, French-Canadian boatmen, Clark's African-American slave, and the Shoshone woman named Sacagawea who went with them.
The Natural World of Lewis and Clark
On their journey westward, Lewis and Clark demonstrated an amazing ability to identify the new plants and animals they encountered, and their observations enriched science's understanding of the trans-Mississippi West. Others have written about their discoveries and have faithfully cataloged their findings; now a twenty-first-century biologist reexamines some of those discoveries in the light of modern science to show for the first time their lasting biological significance.
The Journals of Patrick Gass
Sergeant Patrick Gass was one of the few members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to keep a continuous log of the entire epic journey. His simple and direct writing style, along with his emphasis on the daily activities of the trip, mad Gass's journal mo
Lews and Clark Expedition
