Follow in the Footsteps of America's Greatest Expedition on the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
1
Aug 31, 1803
The expedition began here on August 31, 1803 — Lewis started the keelboat down the Ohio the same day it left the boatyard.
2
Oct 14, 1803
Lewis joined Clark near the Falls of the Ohio in October 1803 — the partnership, and the Corps, formed here.
3
May 14, 1804
After a winter of drills at Camp River Dubois, the Corps crossed the Mississippi and started up the Missouri on May 14, 1804.
4
Jun 26, 1804
The Corps camped at the mouth of the Kansas River in late June 1804 to dry stores and repair the boats.
5
Aug 3, 1804
The expedition's first formal council with a Native nation — the Otoe and Missouria — was held on this bluff on August 3, 1804.
6
Aug 20, 1804
Sergeant Charles Floyd died near here on August 20, 1804 — the only member lost in twenty-eight months.
7
Nov 2, 1804
The Corps built Fort Mandan just downstream and wintered among the Mandan and Hidatsa; Sacagawea joined the expedition here.
8
May 28, 1805
A Corps campsite deep in the Missouri Breaks, pitched as the river narrowed into unmapped country.
9
May 29, 1805
That evening's camp, just above the river Clark had named for Julia "Judith" Hancock.
10
May 30, 1805
The journals record brutal miles here: rain, slick banks, and men towing the canoes by rope.
11
May 31, 1805
The volcanic monolith the expedition passed on May 31, 1805, still standing watch over the White Cliffs.
12
Jun 13, 1805
A mile of sandstone cliff used as a buffalo jump for a thousand years; the Corps spent June and July 1805 portaging the Great Falls nearby.
13
Jul 19, 1805
Lewis named these 1,200-foot limestone walls "the gates of the rocky mountains" on July 19, 1805.
14
Oct 7, 1805
The Nez Perce creation site at Kamiah, homeland of the nation that fed and guided the Corps in fall 1805.
15
Oct 14, 1805
A Snake River camp during the fast, dangerous run of rapids toward the Columbia.
16
Oct 15, 1805
Camped a day's paddle from the Columbia; the Corps reached the confluence on October 16.
17
Nov 2, 1805
Here the Corps ran the Cascades of the Columbia in early November 1805, reaching tidewater at last.
18
Dec 7, 1805
Winter quarters 1805-06 in Clatsop country near the mouth of the Columbia — the far end of the continent.
19
Dec 28, 1805
Seaside's bronze marks the western end of the journey; the Corps boiled seawater for salt nearby all winter.
20
Jul 25, 1806
The expedition's only surviving physical trace: Clark carved his name here on July 25, 1806, homeward bound.
