Lewis and Clark embarked on the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific coast undertaken by the United States. Their objectives were both scientific and commercial with the goal of studying the area’s geography and ecology in order to learn how the region could be exploited economically.
On this day September 23rd, in 1806, Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis after their exploration of the Northwest Territory was finished. They had ventured through the Missouri River, over the Rocky Mountains, and reached the pacific near modern day Oregon. Towards the end of the expedition, Lewis was mistaken to be an elk by a fellow traveller and was shot in the thigh forcing them to head back on the Missouri river and return home.
Although they failed to find a commercial route to Asia, they helped establish the ideology that the United States should stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Ironically, after their expedition Lewis and Clark received very little attention. It took until the turn of the century for their story became a legend expressing US conquest and personal adventures.