Lewis and Clark expedition

Cultural  

1. A journey made by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, to explore the American Northwest, newly purchased from France, and some territories beyond. The expedition started from St. Louis, Missouri, and moved up the Missouri River and down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. The information that Lewis and Clark gathered was of great help in the settlement of the West. (See also Louisiana Purchase.)

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Example Sentences

More than 220 years later, the Lewis and Clark expedition still intrigues.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

With his commission of the Lewis and Clark expedition and his control of governments in the newly acquired inland empire, Jefferson, once a fervent exponent of limited government, substantially expanded presidential power.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 26, 2019

That flight was the most demanding, he said, “But Apollo 8 was the one of exploration, the one of repeating the Lewis and Clark expedition … finding the new Earth.”

From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2018

He also elevated Sacagawea, the legendary Shoshone woman who was crucial to the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the explorers’ slave, York, to sergeants in the U.S.

From Washington Post • Sep. 1, 2016

“A black person was part of the Lewis and Clark expedition? Really?”

From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson