On June 20, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent careful instructions to

Meriwether Lewis that outlined the scientific goals of Lewis and Clark’s bold

transcontinental mission.

Excerpts of President Jefferson’s instructions:

Explore the Missouri river... & communication with the waters of the Pacific

Ocean;

Take observations of latitude & longitude, courses of the river, variations of the

compass;

[Observe] the soil & face of the country, ... growth & vegetable productions;

the animals of the country, the mineral productions of every kind;

volcanic appearances, ... climate, ...particular plants, birds, reptiles or insects.

The Legacy

Even before the United States purchased

the Louisiana Territory from France in

1803, President Thomas Jefferson had

already 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, 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.

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 carry out

studies in the earth and life sciences on

a national scale and to sustain long-term

monitoring and assessment of natural

resources.

USGS participation

The goal of USGS participation in the

Lewis and Clark Bicentennial

Commemoration is to increase public

awareness about the value of science in

understanding the complex resource

management issues that face the United

States.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Continuing the Legacy of Lewis and Clark

Courtesy of the

Joslyn Art

Museum

Courtesy of the

American

Philosophical

Society

Photo by D.J. Nichols, USGS
USGS Map of Today

The digitally produced shaded-relief map to the left gives a much more detailed

look of 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 the USGS National Map Data that was used to prepare this

map, visit this web site: http://nationalmap.usgs.gov/

During the Bicentennial, the USGS

will bring the natural science of Lewis

and Clark’s time and the science of

today to the public through USGS

exhibits at museums and visitor

centers, by an extensive website

emphasizing USGS science

(http://www.usgs.gov/features/lewisan

dclark.html), by video presentations

and electronic educational projects,

and through USGS participation in the

Federal Corps of Discovery II, a

traveling classroom that will retrace

the route of the Lewis and Clark

expedition during the Bicentennial.

At numerous stops along the route,

USGS scientists will give

presentations about related ongoing

USGS investigations, explaining

changes in river systems and pointing

out advances in scientific instruments

and understanding that have occurred

during the last 200 years. In particular,

the results from an ongoing

investigation of the changes in water

quality of the lower Missouri and

middle Mississippi Rivers over the last

two centuries, cosponsored by the

USGS and the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, will be shared with

the public attending the Corps of

Discovery II. Also, look for USGS

exhibits and scientists in activities at

all of the Bicentennial Signature

Events.

In cooperation with over 20 other

federal agencies, the USGS has

produced a special Lewis and Clark

map, Discovering the Legacy of Lewis

and Clark, that shows the location of

the Corps of Discovery route from

coast to coast. This map is available

free of charge from many federal

agencies and at Lewis and Clark

commemoration sites across the

nation.

The USGS has also prepared a

commemorative Lewis and Clark map

poster that portrays the 1814 map

drawn by William Clark of previously

unknown territory in contrast to a

modern physiographic map of the

same area, digitally constructed from

remote sensing images, that accurately

depicts the magnificent landscape

features described by Lewis and Clark.

This map poster, Lewis and Clark: A

Legacy of Science, can be previewed

online at the USGS website and

ordered from USGS (1-888-ASKUSGS).

Continuing the Legacy

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 employed by

Lewis and Clark, the spirit of

dedication and sense of discovery

remain the same. In surveying natural

resources and applying scientific

knowledge to the land, the USGS

continues what Lewis and Clark

began. Find out more about the USGS

at our website (http://www.usgs.gov).

Original drawing by Jim Adams courtesy of L&C Replicas, Butch Bouvier, Onawa, IA

Contact Information:

Dale Blevins, USGS Lewis and Clark Bicentennial

Coordinator: (816) 254-8172; dblevins@usgs.gov

Jon Campbell, USGS Lewis and Clark Outreach Coordinator:

(703) 648-4180; joncampbell@usgs.gov

For USGS Lewis and Clark science, events, and activities,

visit http://www.usgs.gov/features/lewisandclark.html.