Following the Lewis & Clark Trail

The Lewis & Clark expedition of the northwestern part of our country is probably the most exciting exploration undertaken by the United States, even surpassing the Apollo missions to the moon. The trip was sponsored by then President Thomas Jefferson. As soon as he was elected, he hired Meriwether Lewis as his “secretary”. Meriwether was 26 years old and was knowledgeable of the then frontier, having served 6 years in the army and risen to the rank of Captain.
The planning for the trip started shortly thereafter. The trip consisted of following the Missouri river to its confluence, crossing the great mountains, following the major river (thought to be the Columbia, which had been discovered by then) to the Pacific Ocean and then return. Provisioning for the trip began in 1803. The expedition, known as the “Corps of Discovery”, wintered in the St. Louis area and set out in May of 1804. The winter of 1804 was spent at Fort Mandan, current day Bismarck ND, and the winter of 1805 spent at Fort Clatsop near Astoria OR. The return trip, basically following the outward route, was completed in 1806. They arrived back in St. Louis on September 23, 1806.
And now, the Beckman’s will try it! This trip has been on our minds for some time and we have been researching it for over two years now. The National Parks service sponsored a Bicentennial in 2003-2006, which spurred a renewed interest in the trail. Many new books have been published, including volumes on trip planning and current camping opportunities. We have been pouring over these and are ready to go.
Our trip will be about 7,500 miles, door to door. Left click on the above image to see it in more detail. Since we don’t have to walk and paddle boats, our travel time will be somewhat less than Lewis & Clark, about 2 months.