The Lewis and Clark Expedition!
Imagine that one morning you woke up & discovered your house had grown twice as big! How would you feel & what would you do?
Well, in 1803, Americans faced a similar situation on a much larger scale. President Thomas Jefferson had purchased 820,000 square miles from France (known as the Louisiana Purchase) & suddenly doubled the size of the US!
Americans were very excited about this new territory, but it was also a mystery. What did the land look like? How could you cross it? What kinds of animals & plants lived there? Would the Native Americans who lived there be welcoming?
Very few White people had traveled to this western part of the country & the few maps that existed were patchy & unreliable. So President Jefferson decided to hire a group of men to explore this new America.
The Making of a Nation: Louisiana Purchase
Stop at 11:09 4 min
Create a Journal
As we read about the expedition you will imagine you are one of the people exploring with Lewis & Clark’s team.
You will need to journal and draw pictures along the way.
What is going on around you? How do you feel?
What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell?
You will write your journal in first person, adding details of the events as well as your thoughts about what is happening.
Include at least one quick sketch for each entry.
Lewis and Clark: An American Adventure Story
Getting Ready
Follow along as we read pages 43-45. Be thinking about how you would feel preparing for this expedition.
After the reading, start your journal off by first stating the 4 goals of the expedition. Then write about your thoughts, feelings and reactions to preparing for this adventure.
Here is an example of what your first journal entry might look like.
(pg 43-45)
Make it your own and write just like how you would talk to someone.
Always include the month and year at the top.
Include a drawing in each entry!
St. Louis to North Dakota
Read pages 46 & 47
Add one journal entry and sketch of a keelboat
Keelboat
Here is an example of what your journal entry might look similar to for today’s reading.
(pg 46-47)
The Expedition in ND
Read pages 49-56
Journal entry & sketch to match entry
Video (2 min)
Here is an example of how today’s journal entry might start. (pg 49-56)
Be sure to include some of these other events.
_ Oct, 1804: Walk through the remains of “On a Slant,” a Mandan village abandoned after the smallpox epidemic of 1781 (pg. 49)
_ Oct, 1804: Arrive at busiest trade center in the territory (pg. 50)
_ Nov, 1804: Start building Fort Mandan (pg. 50)
_ Dec, 18o4: Finish Fort Mandan and meet Toussaint Charboneau and his wife Sakakawea (pg. 51)
_ Feb 11, 18o5: Sakakawea gives birth to Pomp!
(pg 53)
Heading West
Read Pages 59-62
They followed the Missouri River to the Great Falls and on to Shoshone lands.
Add to your journal. What did you encounter and how did you feel about the two weeks it took to clear the falls?
Here is an example of how today’s journal entry might start. (pg 59-62)
Be sure to include some of these other events.
_ Lewis is almost killed by a grizzly bear! (pg 59)
_ Mosquitoes! (pg 59)
_ Sakakawea fixes the men’s diets (pg 59)
_ Aug. 12, 1805: Lewis climbs to the top of a mountain and found more peaks as far as the eye can see. That means there’s no connecting river! (pg 61)
_ Come upon a Shoshone tribe & Sakakawea was reunited with her brother Chief Cameahwait! The tribe gave the expedition 29 horses
(pg 61-62)
_ Complicated translation process… (pg 61)
_ After the long and dangerous trip across the Rockies, they finally saw the Pacific Ocean Nov. 7, 1805! (pg 62)
Back to North Dakota
Read Page 64
Video
Honoring Sakakawea
Read page 65 & 66
Add to journal
Here is an example of how today’s journal entry might start. (pg 64-66)
Be sure to include these other events.
_ Lewis gets shot in the buttocks!
(pg 64)
_ Return to the Mandan and Hidatsa villages (pg 65)
_ Say goodbye to Sakakawea & Pomp (pg 65)
Results of the Expedition
Read page 68-69
Last Journal entry: Explain the significance of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in North Dakota History.
Finish final touches to your journal.
Here is an example of how your LAST journal entry might start. (pg 68-69)
Be sure to include these other events.
_ Lewis meets with President Jefferson (pg 68)
_213 days spent in North Dakota where they had build Fort Mandan
(pg 64)
Jigsaw! Time to learn a bit more about some of the members of the expedition.
First, you will get put into one of the four Home Groups. Each person in the group will be assigned a different member of the Lewis & Clark expedition.
Once you are given the name of the person you will be researching, you will join the classmates who are also researching that person. Those groups are called the Expert Groups. Together you will read the articles & answer the questions about your expedition member.
When all the Expert Groups are finished with their research, they will meet back with their Home Groups and share their findings!
Other Websites to explore if time allows
Fort Mandan
http://www.history.nd.gov/exhibits/lewisclark/ftmandan.html
Lewis and Clark Quest
https://www.gearyschools.org/vnews/display.v/TP/5293a1ecafc25