Long before he became the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson had dreamed of sending explorers across North America. When Jefferson took office in 1801, most of the United States population lived along the Atlantic Ocean and knowledge of the western part of the continent was limited to what had been learned from French traders and fur trappers. In 1803, President Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis, his former secretary, to lead an expedition to the Pacific Ocean. After Lewis chose William Clark, they were off on their extraordinary and important journey across the country!

Follow their journey through the webquest sites below:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/resources.html

http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/archive/idx_time.html

http://www.lewis-clark.org/article/2052

https://www.nps.gov/gis/storymaps/maptour/v1/index.html?appid=2909c502fd6a498f8ad4f8b3eec5aeab&webmap=876204d383594964ade887aebaf07579#

https://www.nps.gov/lecl/learn/historyculture/sacagawea.htm

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/journey_leg_12.html

http://www.lewis-clark.org/article/687