Captains Lewis and Clark, with the Corps of Discovery, set off in 1804, up the Missouri River, to discover what lay between Missouri and the Pacific Ocean.
Christopher Columbus and a lot of other fine fellows have well been applauded for the discovery of various portions of America. But it took the courage of these early explorers and a lot more for later explorers to trek into the thousands of unmapped acres that stood mountain-high and desert-low between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Two of the earliest inland adventurers were Captain Meriwether Lewis and his co-leader Captain William Clark of the newly formed Corps of Discovery. In 1804 they left Missouri, to begin an enormous voyage west as they followed the Missouri River. They crossed the westward portion of the newly acquired land, due to the Louisiana Purchase, until they reached the Pacific Ocean.
Setting out in three boats, a fifty-five foot long keelboat and two pirogues, William Clark and Meriwether Lewis' party consisted of forty-five men. Unique to this group was one African American, known as York. This giant of a man was the slave of William Clark. York was the first known Black to cross the American Continent, although other Blacks were soon to follow such as mountain man James Beckwourth.
While Lewis and Clark were away exploring, and once chasing prairie dogs, another fellow by the name of Zebulon Pike took off on an adventure of his own in an entirely different direction. His mission, in 1806, was to explore the Arkansas and Red Rivers and to evaluate the possibilities of trade with Mexico.
Pike didn't chase any prairie dogs that we know of. Instead, he built himself a fort on Spanish soil and proceeded to fly the Stars and Stripes over it, eventually landing himself and his men in a Mexican jail. In time, these forward Americans were released and years later, thanks to Pike's boldness, the Santa Fe Trail was open for trade between America and Mexico.
Long before Lewis and Clark headed west and Zeb Pike wandered down the would-be Santa Fe Trail another brave and curious fellow was checking out the possibilities in Kentucky.
They Also Discovered America continued.
