| | Lewis selected [[William Clark]], a fellow Virginian with whom he had served on the frontier in 1795, to serve a co-leader. They set out by keelboat in 1803 to Wood River, Illinois, at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The next spring, they began their journey up the [[Missouri River]] and by October had reached the Mandan villages in present-day North Dakota, where they decided to stay for the winter. Relying completely upon the goodwill of Indian peoples for their success, Lewis and Clark received food, military protection, and valuable information about the path ahead. Their most valuable help came in the form of Touissant Charbonneau, a French Canadian whom they hired as an interpreter, and his Shoshone wife [[Sacagawea]], who provided help as a guide and interpreter. Sacagawea's very presence helped insure good relations with Indian people. In April of 1805 all thirty-three members of the expedition left the Mandan village and started up the Missouri again. A band of Shoshone led by Sacagawea's brother provided invaluable assistance, primarily horses, as the expedition began to ascend the Rocky Mountains. After crossing the Bitterroot Mountains, they arrived cold, wet, hungry and exhausted, the [[Nez Percé]] village were they were taken in. In November, they traveled down the Columbia River basin and reached the Pacific Ocean in November. They stayed the winter on the Pacific Coast and returned to the United States in 1806. | | Lewis selected [[William Clark]], a fellow Virginian with whom he had served on the frontier in 1795, to serve a co-leader. They set out by keelboat in 1803 to Wood River, Illinois, at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The next spring, they began their journey up the [[Missouri River]] and by October had reached the Mandan villages in present-day North Dakota, where they decided to stay for the winter. Relying completely upon the goodwill of Indian peoples for their success, Lewis and Clark received food, military protection, and valuable information about the path ahead. Their most valuable help came in the form of Touissant Charbonneau, a French Canadian whom they hired as an interpreter, and his Shoshone wife [[Sacagawea]], who provided help as a guide and interpreter. Sacagawea's very presence helped insure good relations with Indian people. In April of 1805 all thirty-three members of the expedition left the Mandan village and started up the Missouri again. A band of Shoshone led by Sacagawea's brother provided invaluable assistance, primarily horses, as the expedition began to ascend the Rocky Mountains. After crossing the Bitterroot Mountains, they arrived cold, wet, hungry and exhausted, the [[Nez Percé]] village were they were taken in. In November, they traveled down the Columbia River basin and reached the Pacific Ocean in November. They stayed the winter on the Pacific Coast and returned to the United States in 1806. |