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The Legacy

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Clark Sacagawea

Even before the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory
from France in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson had
commissioned Meriwether Lewis to explore the continent west to
the Pacific Ocean. For hundreds of years, the fabled Northwest
Passage had inspired explorers as they tried to find a navigable route
through North America. President Thomas Jefferson still envisioned
the advantages such a water route would bring to the Nation when
he instructed Meriwether Lewis about his mission.

Lewis and Clark's "Corps of Discovery" was the Nation's first
federally funded scientific expedition. In carrying out Jefferson's
instructions, the explorers mapped every twist and turn of the
Missouri, the Columbia, and other rivers. They also gathered
information about the soils, plants, animals, and native inhabitants
of the lands through which they passed.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the first of many Government surveys of natural resources in the American West. In 1879, four such surveys
were combined into a new agency called the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Today, the USGS continues to serve the Nation as an independent
fact-finding agency that provides scientific understanding about natural resources. Because of the striking similarities between the USGS mission

and Thomas Jefferson's scientific charge to Lewis and Clark, the USGS can be seen as an organizational successor to Lewis and Clark.

A Map of Lewis and Clark's Track

Upon their return, Lewis and Clark ended the hope of a navigable
water route across the continent via the Missouri River system.
However, they brought with them knowledge of new lands and
resources for the growing country. Clark used this knowledge to
construct a new map of the West, which he completed in 1810.
Information from William Dunbar’s exploration of the Ouachita
River, Thomas Freeman's Red River expedition of 1806, James
Wilkinson's descent down the Arkansas River, Zebulon Pike's
expeditions to the southern Rockies and upper Mississippi River,
and the 1807-08 exploration of the Yellowstone basin by former
Corps of Discovery members George Drouillard and John Colter
was incorporated into Clark's map.

(To the Western Ocean, 1995 - reference; hrep./ind. water.usgs. powlewisandclark/mapping, himi)

The map to the left shows Lewis and Clark's route across the west-
ern part of North America from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.
The map was copied by Samuel Lewis in 1814 from the original
drawing by William Clark.

Mapping the Land

Lewis and Clark used a compass, sextant, octant, chronometer and
other basic tools to determine latitude and longitude and to map
features of the landscape. USGS cartographers used similar
instruments to map the entire Nation up until the mid-1900s. As
late as the 1960s, USGS map makers were still transporting their
surveying equipment into remote areas using horses and mules.

Gaging the River's Fiow

As they traveled up the Missouri, Lewis and Clark periodically
measured the speed of the river's current. They probably did this
by tying a stick to the end of a log-line, a lightweight rope of
known length with knots tied at fixed intervals. Tossing the stick
into the river, they measured the time it took for the rope to play
out as the stick floated downstream.

Working with Native Americans

Jefferson instructed Lewis and Clark to "learn as much as you can
about the inhabitants” of the lands through which they would
travel. The expedition interacted with diverse groups of Native
Americans, from the Osage along the lower Missouri westward to
the Mandan, Shoshone, Nez Perce, and Chinook.

The original Lewis and Clark Map has been digitally enhanced and prepared by the LS. Geological Survey.
Reproduced from the original map held in the collection of the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

Continuing the Legacy

President Thomas Jefferson

Excerpts from his Instructions to
Captain Meriwether Lewis

... The object of your mission is to explore
the Missouri river, and such principal
stream of it, as, by its course and communi-
cation with the waters of the Pacific Ocean,
may offer the most direct and practicable
water communication across this continent,
for the purposes of commerce, Beginning

at the mouth of the Missouri, you will take
observations of latitude and longitude, at all remarkable points on
the river, and especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands
and other places and objects distinguished by such natural mark and
characters of a durable kind, as that they may with certainty be
recognized hereafter, The courses of the river between these points
of observation may be supplied by the compass, the log-line and

by time, corrected by the observations themselves, the variations of
the compass too, in different places, should be noticed.

... Your observations are to be taken with great pains and accuracy,
to be entered distinctly, and intelligibly for others as well as your-
self, to comprehend all the elements necessary, . . .

Other objects worthy of notice will be the soil and face of the
country, its growth and vegetable productions; especially those not
of the U.S.; the animals of the country generally, and especially
those not known in the U.S.; the remains and accounts of any
which may be deemed rare or extinct; the mineral productions of
every kind; but more particularly metals, limestone, pit coal and
salpetre; salines and mineral waters, noting the temperature of the
last, and such circumstances as may indicate their character.
Volcanic appearances, climate as characterized by the thermometer,
by the proportion of rainy, cloudy and clear days, by lightning, hail,
snow, ice, by the access and recess of frost, by the winds prevailing
at different seasons, the dates at which particular plants put forth or
lose their flowers, or leaf, times of appearance of particular birds,
reptiles or insects.

. .. Given under my hand at the city of Washington, this 20th day of
June 1803.

Thomas Jefferson, President, United States of America

(Jackson, D. ett, 1978, Letters af the Lewis and Clark Expedition with related documents, 1783-1854
(2d ed.}: Urbana, IL, University of Itineis Press.)

Two hundred years later, the USGS, the Nation's largest earth
science agency, carries on the legacy of surveying our natural
heritage that began with Lewis and Clark. USGS scientists

continue to map, measure, and monitor great river systems and the lands that border them. Although modern scientific tools, such as seismic
monitoring devices and remote sensing, are far more sophisticated than those used by Lewis and Clark, the spirit of dedication and sense of
discovery remain the same, In regard to surveying natural resources and applying scientific knowledge to the land, the USGS continues to do

what Lewis and Clark began.

USGS Map of Today

The digitally produced shaded-relief map to the left gives a much
more detailed look at the same area mapped by William Clark.
Elevation is represented as a range of colors, from dark green for
low elevation to white for high elevations. For more information
on elevation data from The National Map, please visit:
http://nationalmap.usgs.gov.

Mapping the Land

USGS scientists today use many modern instruments to create
detailed, extremely accurate maps of the Earth's surface.

Using Doppler radar and satellite images, scientists can track
slight variations in the elevation of a mountain, plot the changing
course of a river, assess the health of crops, and monitor land use
patterns over time,

Gaging the River's Flow

USGS stream flow gages now stand in strategic spots all along the
length of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. At these stations,

the speed of the stream current is measured regularly, Newer
instruments can measure the velocity of every square foot of water
in a cross section of a river in less than 15 minutes. Real-time
river-stage data are available at http://water.usgs.gov/realtime.html,

Working with Native Americans

The USGS provides unbiased scientific information to American
Indian land and resource managers who use that information

to respond to concerns about human health, natural resource use,
and conservation. The USGS also encourages tribal members to
pursue careers in science, Native American's knowledge of the
land and its resources combined with generations of their observa-
tions complement scientific understandings and technologies to
improve the lives of all Americans.

USGS Mission

With no regulatory or management mandates, the USGS serves
the Nation as an independent fact-finding agency that collects,
monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about
natural resource conditions, issues, and problems. The value of the
USGS to the Nation rests on its ability to engage in studies of the
earth and life sciences on a national scale and to sustain long-term
monitoring and assessment of natural resources.

The Library of Congress and USGS

The Library of Congress and the USGS have entered into an agree-
ment to produce and disseminate historical cartographic products
and exchange information. A Map of Lewis and Clark's Track is
one of the first maps to be exchanged under this agreement.

For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, P.O. Box 25286, Denver, CO 80225
1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747) or hitp//nsk.usgs.gow/

President George W. Bush

Excerpts from the President's
speech on the commemoration of

the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial,
July 3, 2002

... Nearly 200 years ago, President
Jefferson sent an expedition to explore
what was then the uncharted West.
Jefferson was a curious man, and | bet
you he wanted to lead the expedition
himself. But he was occupied and so he chose a trusted aide
and friend, Meriwether Lewis, to lead what was called the
"Voyage of Discovery."

The Lewis and Clark expedition lasted just a couple of years, but it
changed the face of our country forever. It opened up the American
West for future development. It increased our knowledge of our
natural resources. It helped us gain a better understanding of
America's native cultures. Most importantly, the Lewis and Clark
Expedition will stand forever as a monument to the American
spirit, a spirit of optimism and courage and persistence in the face
of adversity.

I have signed a proclamation designating 2003 through 2006 as the
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration. I urge all Ameri-
cans to learn more about Lewis and Clark and how the expedition
changed our Nation, and at the same time, to learn more about our
native culture, to learn more about courage and the values that
continue to shape our Nation today.

American history is filled with remarkable examples of heroism
and adventure, and the voyage of Lewis and Clark is one of the
most remarkable of them all. Their expedition became an epic of
endurance and discovery, and that epic became an American legend
which all Americans should know about, and they should teach
their children about it, as well.

George W. Bush, President, United States of America
(Reference hip:/Nwwv. whitehouse. gownews/releases/2002/07/priny20020703-9,himt)

Acknowledgments;

Sacajawea, (Courtesy af Denver Public Library, Western Hintory Collection, Call Number: X-33784)
‘Thomas Jefferson, (The White House Collection, Courtesy af the White Howse Historical Association)
George W. Bush, (The White House Collection, Courtesy of the White House)