The Oregon Trail
Columbus discovered America in 1492. He thought he was going to India, so he called the people he met “Indians”. Today they are known as Native Americans.
The first president of the United States of America was George Washington. At that time the United States consisted only of the States on the East Coast, the Atlantic Coast.
In 1803 the third president of the US, Thomas Jefferson, bought the land to the west, which was French Territory, in the so-called Louisiana Purchase. He wanted to find out what was there so he sent an expedition to the find a way (trail) to the West Coast. Two men lead this expedition and their names were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
In 1804 Lewis and Clark left St. Louis, Missouri with three boats and 45 men. Today it takes about 9 hours to fly from St. Louis to the West Coast and back. By car or motorbike the same journey takes about six days. How long do you think it took Lewis and Clark in 1804?
Clark’s job was to make maps while Lewis was studying the countryside, the plants and the animals. In October 1804 they reached the Indian tribe of the Mandan in North Dakota. The Indians helped them to build a fort and showed them how to hunt for deer or other wild animals.
In June 1805 they reached the Great Falls of the Missouri River, consisting of five waterfalls. It took them a month to carry the boats over these waterfalls. The next problem was how to cross the Rocky Mountains.
In August 1805 they met the Shoshones, who gave them horses, and the explorers gave the Indians knives and pistols in return. An old man showed them a trail across the Rocky Mountains. The crossing took them until October 1805. When they ran out of food, they had to kill three of their horses. Finally they arrived at the Clearwater River.
In October 1805 they went down the Clearwater River and reached the Columbia River. They met another Indian tribe who were preparing for winter by drying fish. In the middle of November 1805 they finally reached the West Coast and saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
In March 1806 they started their journey back to St. Louis. In canoes they went down the rivers and bought horses from an Indian tribe. When they ran out of food, they even had to eat some of their dogs.
On September 23rd 1806, Lewis and Clark arrived in St. Louis and were welcomed as heroes. The whole journey had taken two years, four months and ten days.
