84 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



portant government expedition that was sent out to ex- 

 plore the great unknown mountain regions of the extreme 

 west. This expedition, starting from St. Louis, proceeded 

 up the Missouri river in May, 1804, and, after spending 

 the winter among the Mandan Indians, not far from the 

 present city of Bismarck, North Dakota, resumed the 

 journey in April, 1805. From the head waters of Jef- 

 ferson Fork they crossed the snow-clad Bitterroot Moun- 

 tains, and descended the foaming rapids and cataracts 

 of the Columbia river to the Pacific coast. On the return 

 trip Lewis explored the Falls of the Missouri and Maria's 

 river, while Clark and his party descended the Yellow- 

 stone to its junction with the Missouri. The final happy 

 arrival of the re-united parties in St. Louis in Septem- 

 ber, 1806, is one of the familiar events of American his- 

 tory. 



From a geographical point of view this expedition was 

 a great and successful achievement, Lewis and Clark hav- 

 ing fixed pretty well the positions of the Missouri and 

 Columbia rivers. Every item of information which they 

 secured was a new acquisition to history and science. 

 However, the absence of scientific men from the expedi- 

 tion was seriously felt when the reports were made up 

 from the data at hand. Many discoveries had been made 

 in natural history, but no member of the party being 

 competent to determine their scientific value, Lewis and 

 Clark did not receive the credit for priority of discovery 

 to which they were entitled. The antelope, black-tailed 



Thwaites, R. G. A brief history of Rocky mountain exploration 

 with special reference to the expedition of Lewis and Clark. 1904. 



Thwaites, R. G. Original journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition 

 1804-1906. 1904. 



Wheeler, O. D. The trail of Lewis and Clark 1804-1904. 1904. 



Smith, W. R. General William Clark, Territorial governor of Mis- 

 souri. Bull. Washington Univ. Assoc. 4: 46-69. 1906. 



Thwaites, R. G. William Clark: Soldier, explorer, statesman. Mo. 

 Hist. Soc. Coll. 2: 1-24. 1906. 



Spaulding, Perley. A biographical history of botany at St. Louis, 

 Missouri. Pop. Sci. Month. 1908: 492-493. 



