Lewis and Clark reenactment near Great Falls, Montana.
Meriwether Lewis is explaining his role in the adventure.
Fact - Before the expedition, Lewis was a secretary to President Thomas Jefferson, and before that, a captain in the military. He and William Clark first met during military duty together at Fort Greenville, Ohio several years before the expedition began. Coincidence?
The French fur trader, Charbonneau, and his Indian wife Sacagawea discuss the strangers in their midst. FACT - Many say that Sacagawea was hired as a guide by Lewis and Clark. Rather she was hired as an interpretor to negotiate trade for horses with her people, the Shoshone Indians, who lived in the Rocky Mountains. However, her knowledge of western Montana did eventually guide the expedition to her tribe and the horses they needed. Another coincidence?
Lewis and Clark's first winter encampment called Fort Mandan in what is now North Dakota. The Indians in the region helped the expediton survive the freezing temperatures and severe blizzards - as anyone living in the Dakotas can tell you. The winter there is not merciful.
There is no Northwest Passage!
A sobering moment for Meriwether Lewis on this rise when he discovers there is no Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean. Here, the view at Lemhi Pass in Montana where he stood shows the Bitteroot Mountains blocking the way. FACT - Did you know that President Jefferson not only wanted the expedition to find the Northwest Passage, but to determine if there were woolly mammoths, mountains made of salt, and ferocious beasts? The expedition did come face to face many times with a ferocious beast on their journey - the grizzly bear.
