Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997) - full transcript

Man: APRIL 8, 1804.

HONORED PARENTS,

I AM NOW ON AN EXPEDITION
TO THE WESTWARD

THROUGH THE INTERIOR PARTS
OF NORTH AMERICA

WITH CAPTAIN LEWIS
AND CAPTAIN CLARK.

WE ARE TO ASCEND
THE MISSOURI RIVER WITH A BOAT

AS FAR AS
IT IS NAVIGABLE

AND THEN GO BY LAND
TO THE WESTERN OCEAN,

IF NOTHING PREVENTS.

Narrator: ONE AFTERNOON
IN THE SPRING OF 1804,

NEARLY 4 DOZEN MEN
CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI



AND STARTED UP
THE MISSOURI RIVER,

STRUGGLING AGAINST
ITS THICK, MUDDY CURRENT.

Man: WE EXPECT TO BE GONE
18 MONTHS OR TWO YEARS,

AND IF WE MAKE
GREAT DISCOVERIES--

AS WE EXPECT--

THE UNITED STATES HAS PROMISED
TO MAKE US GREAT REWARDS.

FOR FEAR OF ACCIDENTS,

I WISH TO INFORM YOU
THAT I LEFT $200 IN CASH,

AND IF I SHOULD NOT
LIVE TO RETURN,

MY HEIRS CAN GET THAT
AND ALL THE PAY DUE ME

FROM THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT.

I WILL WRITE
NEXT WINTER

IF I HAVE A CHANCE.

SERGEANT JOHN ORDWAY.



Narrator:
THEY WERE BEGINNING

THE MOST IMPORTANT EXPEDITION
IN AMERICAN HISTORY--

THE UNITED STATES'
FIRST OFFICIAL EXPLORATION

INTO UNKNOWN SPACES

AND A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE
OF THEIR YOUNG NATION.

THEY WOULD BECOME
THE FIRST UNITED STATES CITIZENS

TO EXPERIENCE
THE GREAT PLAINS--

THE IMMENSITY
OF ITS SKIES,

THE RICH SPLENDOR
OF ITS WILDLIFE,

THE HARSH RIGORS
OF ITS WINTERS.

THEY WOULD BE
THE FIRST AMERICAN CITIZENS

TO SEE THE DAUNTING PEAKS
OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,

THE FIRST TO STRUGGLE
OVER THEM,

THE FIRST TO CROSS
THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE

TO WHERE THE RIVERS
FLOW WEST.

AND AFTER ENCOUNTERING
COLD, HUNGER, DANGER,

AND WONDERS
BEYOND BELIEF,

THEY WOULD BECOME
THE FIRST OF THEIR NATION

TO REACH THE PACIFIC OCEAN
BY LAND.

IT WOULD BE THE GREATEST
ADVENTURE OF THEIR LIVES.

Man: IT'S
A GREAT STORY.

IT'S A HUMAN STORY.

IT'S A STORY OF THOSE
WHO WENT FIRST.

THEY WERE FIRST.
THEY LED THE WAY.

THEY OPENED THE TRAIL.

Man: THE BEST AUTHENTICATED
ACCOUNTS INFORMED US

THAT WE WERE TO PASS
THROUGH A COUNTRY

POSSESSED BY NUMEROUS POWERFUL
AND WARLIKE NATIONS OF SAVAGES

OF GIGANTIC STATURE,

FIERCE, TREACHEROUS,
AND CRUEL...

AND PARTICULARLY
HOSTILE TO WHITE MEN.

SERGEANT PATRICK GASS.

Narrator:
THEY WOULD TELL PEOPLE

WHO HAD BEEN
OCCUPYING THE LAND

FOR HUNDREDS
OF GENERATIONS

THAT THE WEST NOW BELONGED
TO SOMEONE ELSE,

YET THEY WOULD MEET
MORE FRIENDS THAN ENEMIES

AND ONLY ONCE FIRE
THEIR GUNS IN ANGER.

THEY CARRIED THE MOST MODERN
WEAPONS OF THEIR TIME,

BUT IN THEIR TWO MOMENTS
OF GREATEST NEED,

WOMEN WOULD INTERVENE
ON THEIR BEHALF,

AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN,

THEY WOULD BE SAVED
BY THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS.

THEY WERE LED
BY TWO UTTERLY DIFFERENT MEN--

ONE OUTGOING
AND SELF-CONFIDENT,

THE OTHER BRILLIANT
BUT TROUBLED.

REPRESENTING
A NEW NATION

THAT CELEBRATED
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT,

THEY WOULD RELY INSTEAD
ON COOPERATION AND TEAMWORK.

THEY CALLED THEMSELVES
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY,

YET THEY WOULD FAIL
TO DISCOVER

THE THING THEY HAD BEEN SENT
MOST OF ALL TO FIND.

THEIR REAL DISCOVERY
WOULD BE THE LAND ITSELF

AND THE PROMISES
IT HELD.

Man: IT'S AMERICA'S STORY,
I THINK.

THEY TURNED THE NATION
AND FACED IT WEST,

AND THAT'S WHERE THE FUTURE
HAS ALWAYS BEEN.

THAT'S WHERE HOPE
AND POSSIBILITY HAVE BEEN.

AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT DRAWS US
TO LEWIS AND CLARK.

IT'S ABOUT POSSIBILITIES.
IT'S ABOUT WHAT COULD BE--

SOMETIMES WHAT IS
AND SOMETIMES WHAT ISN'T.

BUT IT'S
ABOUT POTENTIAL,

THE FUTURE,
AND HOPE.

Man: CONFIDENTIAL--
GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE

AND OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES,

THE RIVER MISSOURI
AND THE INDIANS INHABITING IT

ARE NOT AS WELL-KNOWN
AS IS DESIRABLE.

AN INTELLIGENT OFFICER
WITH 10 OR 12 CHOSEN MEN

MIGHT EXPLORE
THE WHOLE LINE,

EVEN TO THE WESTERN OCEAN.

THE APPROPRIATION
OF $2,500

WOULD COVER
THE UNDERTAKING.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Narrator: IN 1801,

WHEN THOMAS JEFFERSON
BECAME PRESIDENT,

2 OUT OF EVERY 3 AMERICANS

LIVED WITHIN 50 MILES
OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

ONLY 4 ROADS CROSSED
THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS.

THE UNITED STATES ENDED
AT THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

JEFFERSON HAD ALWAYS
BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT THE WEST.

HIS PERSONAL LIBRARY
AT MONTICELLO

CONTAINED MORE BOOKS
ABOUT THE REGION

THAN ANY OTHER LIBRARY
IN THE WORLD,

BUT HIS BOOKS
TOLD HIM OF A WEST

WHERE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS
STILL ROAMED,

OF ERUPTING VOLCANOES,
HILLS OF PURE SALT,

AND BLUE-EYED INDIANS
WHO SPOKE WELSH.

JEFFERSON'S BOOKS ALSO DESCRIBED
A NORTHWEST PASSAGE--

AN EASY WATER ROUTE

SOMEWHERE
FAR BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI

THAT WOULD LINK THE ATLANTIC
WITH THE PACIFIC,

MAKE POSSIBLE DIRECT TRADE
WITH ALL THE ORIENT,

AND UNLOCK THE WEALTH
OF NORTH AMERICA.

SINCE THE TIME
OF COLUMBUS,

THE SPANISH, FRENCH,
AND BRITISH

HAD BEEN SEARCHING
FOR IT.

WHICHEVER NATION
DISCOVERED THE PASSAGE

AND CONTROLLED IT,
JEFFERSON WAS CERTAIN,

WOULD CONTROL THE DESTINY
OF THE CONTINENT.

TO LEAD HIS AMERICAN EXPEDITION,
JEFFERSON TURNED

TO HIS 28-YEAR-OLD
PERSONAL SECRETARY,
MERIWETHER LEWIS.

A SKILLED FRONTIERSMAN
AND AMATEUR SCIENTIST,

LEWIS HAD GROWN UP
WITHIN SIGHT OF MONTICELLO

AND HAD MADE A NAME
FOR HIMSELF

AS A PROMISING
ARMY OFFICER

BEFORE JEFFERSON SUMMONED HIM
TO WASHINGTON.

INITIALLY, I THINK,
JEFFERSON IS THE PERSON

WHO PUT HIS SPIRIT
AND A GOOD PIECE OF HIS MIND--

THIS DEISTIC RATIONALISM--

INTO THE BRAIN
OF MERIWETHER LEWIS,

AND IN MANY WAYS IN THE MONTHS
BEFORE THE EXPEDITION,

IT WAS JEFFERSON
WHO BECAME

SOMETHING OF MERIWETHER LEWIS'
FATHER--

HELPED REMAKE
THIS MAN.

Narrator: SOME CONSIDERED LEWIS
AN UNLIKELY CHOICE

FOR SUCH AN IMPORTANT
EXPEDITION.

HE SOMETIMES DRANK
TOO MUCH,

AND JEFFERSON HIMSELF HAD NOTED
WHAT HE CALLED

"OCCASIONAL DEPRESSIONS
OF THE MIND" IN LEWIS,

BUT HE STILL
CONSIDERED HIM

THE BEST MAN
FOR THE JOB.

LEWIS IN TURN ASKED
AN OLD FRIEND

TO HELP HIM LEAD
THE EXPEDITION.

Meriwether Lewis:
MY FRIEND,

IF THERE IS ANYTHING
IN THIS ENTERPRISE

WHICH WOULD INDUCE YOU
TO PARTICIPATE WITH ME

IN ITS FATIGUES,
ITS DANGERS, AND ITS HONORS,

BELIEVE ME--
THERE IS NO MAN ON EARTH

WITH WHOM I SHOULD FEEL
EQUAL PLEASURE IN SHARING THEM

AS WITH YOURSELF.

Narrator: HIS FRIEND
WAS WILLIAM CLARK.

BORN IN VIRGINIA,
HE HAD SPENT MOST OF HIS LIFE

ON THE OHIO
AND KENTUCKY FRONTIER,

WHERE HE HAD LEARNED

BOTH TO FIGHT AND TO NEGOTIATE
WITH INDIANS.

HE WAS,
ONE ACQUAINTANCE SAID,

"OF SOLID AND PROMISING
PARTS

AND AS BRAVE
AS CAESAR."

CLARK WAS 4 YEARS OLDER
THAN LEWIS

AND HAD ONCE BEEN
HIS COMMANDER.

HE WAS LESS
FORMALLY EDUCATED,

BUT WITH MORE
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

AND A STEADIER
TEMPERAMENT.

Man: DEAR LEWIS,
THIS IS AN UNDERTAKING

FRAUGHT
WITH MANY DIFFICULTIES,

BUT, MY FRIEND,
I DO ASSURE YOU

THAT NO MAN LIVES

WITH WHOM I WOULD PREFER
TO TAKE SUCH A TRIP.

MY FRIEND, I JOIN YOU
WITH HAND AND HEART.

WILLIAM CLARK.

I THINK
IF WILLIAM CLARK WALKED

INTO THIS ROOM
RIGHT NOW,

THAT--THAT INSTANTLY
I WOULD LIKE HIM A LOT.

I THINK HE'S
AN INCREDIBLY BRIGHT GUY.

HE WAS INVENTIVE.
HE WAS A LITTLE LAID BACK.

HE DIDN'T TEND TO GET AS UPSET
ABOUT THINGS AS LEWIS DID.

I THINK LEWIS KNEW
THAT HE NEEDED SOMEBODY

TO HELP HIM
ON THE EXPEDITION.

I THINK
SOMEWHERE DEEP DOWN

HE KNEW THAT HE NEEDED SOMEBODY
HE COULD COUNT ON,

AND THE PERSON
HE COULD COUNT THE MOST ON

WAS WILLIAM CLARK.

THEY'RE TWO
VERY DIFFERENT MEN,

BUT THEY FORM A UNIT,

AND I THINK
AT THE CORE

OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK
EXPEDITION

IS A BOND, A FRIENDSHIP,
A BROTHERHOOD

BETWEEN TWO
VERY DIFFERENT MEN.

Narrator: IN THE SPRING OF 1803,
AT JEFFERSON'S URGING,

LEWIS WENT
TO PHILADELPHIA,

HOME OF THE AMERICAN
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

THERE HE STUDIED
FOR MONTHS

WITH THE NATION'S
LEADING SCIENTISTS,

LEARNING BOTANY,
ZOOLOGY, MINERALOGY,

AND CELESTIAL
NAVIGATION.

HE BEGAN BUYING SUPPLIES--
GUNPOWDER, LEAD,

AND RIFLES
OF THE MOST ADVANCED DESIGN,

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS,
TENTS, AND WOOLEN BLANKETS,

GIFTS FOR THE INDIAN TRIBES
HE EXPECTED TO MEET,

AND BARRELS OF WHISKEY.

HE LEARNED MEDICINE

FROM THE MOST CELEBRATED
PHYSICIAN OF THE DAY--

DR. BENJAMIN RUSH--

AND BOUGHT FROM HIM
600 DOSES

OF THE DOCTOR'S
FAVORITE CURE-ALL--

POWERFUL LAXATIVES

EVERYONE CALLED
"RUSH'S THUNDERBOLTS."

[FIREWORKS
AND CHEERING]

THEN, ON JULY 4, 1803,
CAME NEWS

THAT DRAMATICALLY EXPANDED
THE EXPEDITION'S IMPORTANCE.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE,
THE EMPEROR OF FRANCE,

HAD OFFERED TO SELL
THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY--

THE VAST AREA

BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS--

TO THE UNITED STATES
FOR $15 MILLION.

IT WAS A SUM
NEARLY TWICE THE FEDERAL BUDGET,

BUT JEFFERSON
NEVER HESITATED.

FOR JUST 3 CENTS
AN ACRE,

HE MORE THAN DOUBLED
THE SIZE OF HIS COUNTRY.

IT WAS THE GREATEST
LAND DEAL IN HISTORY.

Ambrose:
JEFFERSON HAD A MIND

THAT ENCOMPASSED
THE CONTINENT,

AND HE ENVISIONED THE CREATION
OF A GREAT NATION

THAT WOULD STRETCH
FROM SEA TO SEA,

THAT WOULD BE
BOUND TOGETHER

BY A POLITICAL CONCEPT--

THE IDEA OF LIBERTY--

AND HE WANTED TO SPREAD
THAT LIBERTY

ALL THE WAY OUT
TO THE WEST COAST.

Narrator:
AT LEAST ON PAPER,

NEARLY HALF OF THE WEST
NOW BELONGED
TO THE UNITED STATES,

BUT IT WAS STILL
A CONTESTED AREA.

SPAIN CONTROLLED TEXAS,
CALIFORNIA,

AND ALL
OF THE SOUTHWEST.

ENGLAND HAD CANADA

AND A CLAIM
ON THE OREGON COUNTRY,

AND IN THE FALL
OF 1803,

AS MERIWETHER LEWIS
AND HIS FRIEND WILLIAM CLARK

MADE THEIR WAY

TO THE EASTERN SIDE
OF THE MISSISSIPPI,

NO ONE KNEW FOR SURE

WHAT THOMAS JEFFERSON
HAD JUST BOUGHT.

THE CAPTAINS
WOULD SPEND THE WINTER

OUTFITTING
THEIR BIG KEELBOAT

AND ASSEMBLING THE ROUGH
AND UNDISCIPLINED FRONTIERSMEN

WHO WOULD MAKE UP

WHAT THEIR PRESIDENT CALLED
"THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY."

Thomas Jefferson:
CAPTAIN LEWIS,

THE OBJECT
OF YOUR MISSION

IS TO EXPLORE
THE MISSOURI RIVER

AND SUCH PRINCIPAL
STREAM OF IT

AS BY ITS COURSE
AND COMMUNICATION

WITH THE WATERS
OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN

MAY OFFER THE MOST DIRECT
AND PRACTICABLE

WATER COMMUNICATION
ACROSS THIS CONTINENT.

THE ACQUISITION
OF THE COUNTRY

THROUGH WHICH
YOU ARE TO PASS

HAS INSPIRED
THE PUBLIC GENERALLY

WITH A GREAT DEAL
OF INTEREST

IN YOUR ENTERPRISE.

PRESENT MY SALUTATIONS
TO MR. CLARK.

ASSURE
ALL YOUR PARTY

THAT WE HAVE OUR EYES
TURNED ON THEM

WITH ANXIETY
FOR THEIR SAFETY.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Narrator:
ON MAY 14, 1804,

THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY

LEFT THEIR WINTER ENCAMPMENT
IN ILLINOIS,

CROSSED
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER,

AND FINALLY HEADED
UP THE MISSOURI.

Allen: WHEN THE ASTRONAUTS
WENT TO THE MOON,

THEY'D SEEN
PICTURES OF IT.

THEY KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT.

WHEN LEWIS AND CLARK
HEADED OUT,

THEY DIDN'T HAVE
THE SLIGHTEST NOTION
OF WHAT TO EXPECT.

IT WAS MORE UNKNOWN TO THEM
THAN TO THE ASTRONAUTS.

Man: MAY 25th--
SET OUT EARLY THIS MORNING

AND PROCEEDED ON.

PASSED A FRENCH VILLAGE
CALLED LA CHARRETTE.

THIS IS THE LAST SETTLEMENT
OF WHITES ON THIS RIVER.

SERGEANT CHARLES FLOYD.

Narrator:
SERGEANT CHARLES FLOYD

WAS A 22-YEAR-OLD
KENTUCKIAN--

"A YOUNG MAN OF MUCH MERIT,"
LEWIS NOTED.

BEYOND THAT, NOT MUCH
IS KNOWN ABOUT FLOYD

OR THE OTHER MEMBERS
OF THE CREW--

"STOUT, HEALTHY, UNMARRIED MEN,"
LEWIS CALLED THEM,

"ACCUSTOMED
TO THE WOODS

AND CAPABLE OF BEARING
BODILY FATIGUE."

THEY CAME FROM NEARLY EVERY
CORNER OF THE NATION.

JOHN ORDWAY WAS
A YOUNG SOLDIER

FROM HEBRON,
NEW HAMPSHIRE.

JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE
WAS A TAILOR FROM VIRGINIA,

AND PATRICK GASS
WAS A CARPENTER

WHO CAME FROM IRISH STOCK
IN PENNSYLVANIA.

REUBEN AND JOSEPH FIELD
WERE BROTHERS.

GEORGE DROUILLARD,
FRANCOIS LABICHE,

AND PIERRE CRUZATTE

WERE THE SONS OF WHITE FATHERS
AND INDIAN MOTHERS.

IN ADDITION,
LEWIS TOOK WITH HIM

HIS BIG
NEWFOUNDLAND DOG...

AND WILLIAM CLARK
BROUGHT ALONG

A SLAVE HE HAD OWNED
SINCE CHILDHOOD,

A BLACK MAN
NAMED YORK.

Meriwether Lewis: SUCH IS
THE VELOCITY OF THE CURRENT

THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE
TO RESIST ITS FORCE

BY MEANS
OF OARS OR POLES

IN THE MAIN CHANNEL
OF THE RIVER.

THE EDDIES, THEREFORE,
WHICH GENERALLY EXIST

ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER
OF THE RIVER

ARE SOUGHT
BY THE NAVIGATOR,

BUT THE BASE
OF THE RIVERBANKS,

BEING COMPOSED
OF A FINE, LIGHT SAND,

IS EASILY REMOVED
BY THE WATER,

AND THE BANKS,

BEING UNABLE TO SUPPORT
THEMSELVES LONGER,

TUMBLE INTO THE RIVER
WITH TREMENDOUS FORCE,

DESTROYING EVERYTHING
WITHIN THEIR REACH.

MERIWETHER LEWIS.

Narrator: THE BIG KEELBOAT
WAS RAMMED BY DRIFTING LOGS,

GOT STUCK
ON SAND BARS,

HAD ITS MAST SNAPPED
BY OVERHANGING TREES.

OFTEN THE ONLY WAY
TO PROCEED

WAS FOR THE MEN TO WADE
ALONG THE MUDDY BANKS

AND PULL THE BOAT
WITH A ROPE.

Allen:
THE MISSOURI RIVER WAS

A BIG, BROAD, WILD, TOUGH RIVER
IN THOSE DAYS.

THEY'D GET UP
IN THE MORNING,

AND THEN THEY'D HAVE TO GET
THIS BIG, HEAVY KEELBOAT--

HAD TONS AND TONS
OF SUPPLIES IN IT.

THEY HAD TO GET IT
AGAINST THE CURRENT.

CURRENT'S GOING
5, 6 MILES AN HOUR--

JUST PUSHING THEM,

TRYING TO PUSH THEM
BACK TO THE MISSISSIPPI,

AND EVERY DAY THEY'VE GOT TO GO
A LITTLE BIT FARTHER.

Narrator: 14 MILES WAS
A GOOD DAY'S PROGRESS,

BUT AFTER
TWO LONG MONTHS,

THEY WERE STILL
IN WHAT IS NOW MISSOURI.

Heat-Moon: I HAVE NOT BEEN
ON ANY RIVER

THAT HAS MORE
OF A DISTINCTIVE PERSONALITY

THAN DOES
THE MISSOURI RIVER.

IT'S A RIVER THAT IMMEDIATELY
PRESENTS TO THE TRAVELER,

"I AM
A GRANDFATHER SPIRIT.

I HAVE A SOURCE.
I HAVE A LIFE."

I THINK THAT
THAT GRANDFATHER SPIRIT
OF THE MISSOURI RIVER

HELPED DRAW THEM ON.

YOU'RE GOING
AGAINST THE SNAGS

AND THE SAWYERS
AND THE SAND BARS.

YOU'RE GOING AGAINST
THE TREACHERY OF THE RIVER,

BUT YOU ALSO ARE GOING
AGAINST THIS RIVER

WHICH SEEMS TO SAY
TO THE TRAVELER, "COME UP ME."

[GUNSHOT]

Narrator: EACH DAY,
GEORGE DROUILLARD,

THE EXPEDITION'S
BEST SHOT,

WENT OUT TO HUNT
FOR FRESH MEAT.

SILAS GOODRICH,
THE BEST FISHERMAN,

CAUGHT BASS, PERCH,
AND CATFISH.

THE FOOD
THEY BROUGHT IN

SUPPLEMENTED
THE DAILY RATION

OF CORNMEAL, FLOUR,
AND SALT PORK

THAT JOHN ORDWAY
DISTRIBUTED

WITH 4 OUNCES
OF WHISKEY.

CLARK SPENT MOST DAYS
ON THE KEELBOAT,

CALCULATING THEIR PROGRESS
BY DEAD RECKONING,

ESTIMATING THE DISTANCE
TO A COTTONWOOD TREE

AT THE NEXT BEND
OF THE RIVER,

THEN THE NEXT
AND THE NEXT,

AS HE COMPILED A MAP
FOR JEFFERSON.

LEWIS OFTEN
GATHERED PLANTS,

TOOK SAMPLES
OF THE SOIL,

AND TENDED
TO THE MEN'S AILMENTS

BY DRAWING BLOOD
FROM HIS PATIENTS

AND LIBERALLY DISPENSING
RUSH'S THUNDERBOLTS.

IT WAS A PILL

THAT DR. BENJAMIN RUSH
HAD WORKED UP

AND THAT HE SAID WAS SOVEREIGN
FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING.

IT WAS A PURGATIVE

THAT IS WELL DESCRIBED
BY THE TERM "THUNDERBOLTS,"

AND IT WAS
THE MEDICINE OF CHOICE

FOR ALMOST
ANY AILMENT.

USUALLY, IT WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY
THE WRONG THING TO USE,

BUT THEY USED IT
CONSTANTLY,

AND THEY BELIEVED IN IT,

AND IT SURE DID
CLEAN THEM OUT.

Narrator:
THE EXPEDITION MARKED

THE FIRST FOURTH OF JULY
EVER CELEBRATED

WEST
OF THE MISSISSIPPI...

[CANNON FIRES]

BY FIRING
THE KEELBOAT'S CANNON

AND DRINKING
AN EXTRA RATION OF WHISKEY.

THE CAPTAINS NAMED
A STREAM THAT THEY PASSED

INDEPENDENCE CREEK.

"THE DAY," JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE
REMARKED IN HIS JOURNAL,

"WAS MIGHTY HOT."

Duncan: IT WAS HOT,
IT WAS TOUGH GOING,

AND WHAT DO THEY
COMPLAIN ABOUT?

WHAT EVERY PERSON
WHO GOES OUT AND CAMPS

COMPLAINS ABOUT--BUGS.

THERE WERE GNATS ALWAYS FLYING
AROUND THEIR FACE...

BUT MOSTLY
IT WAS MOSQUITOES.

THE DOG WAS HOWLING
AT NIGHT,

YOU LEARN, BECAUSE
OF THE MOSQUITOES,

AND THEY STRUGGLED
TO TRY TO EVEN DESCRIBE

WHAT THEY WERE LIKE.

THEY START OFF BEING,

"THE MOSQUITOES
WERE TROUBLESOME."

THEN HE SAYS,
"MOSQUITOES VERY TROUBLESOME,"

THEN "MOSQUITOES
UNCOMMONLY TROUBLESOME,"

THEN "MOSQUITOES
EXCEEDINGLY TROUBLESOME,"

AND FINALLY, "MOSQUITOES
IMMENSELY NUMEROUS
AND TROUBLESOME."

IT WAS JUST--THEY WERE THE BANE
OF THEIR EXISTENCE.

Thomas Jefferson: CAPTAIN LEWIS,
YOUR OBSERVATIONS

ARE TO BE TAKEN WITH GREAT PAINS
AND ACCURACY,

TO BE ENTERED DISTINCTLY
AND INTELLIGIBLY

FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS YOURSELF
TO COMPREHEND.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Narrator:
IN HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO LEWIS,

PRESIDENT JEFFERSON
HAD INSISTED

THAT THE EXPEDITION WRITE DOWN
EVERYTHING THEY EXPERIENCED.

AT CAMP EVERY NIGHT,
THE CAPTAINS, THE SERGEANTS,

AND AT LEAST
ONE OF THE PRIVATES

TOOK OUT THEIR JOURNALS
TO RECORD THE DAY'S EVENTS,

MAKE OBSERVATIONS
ON THE WEATHER,

WILDLIFE,
AND LANDSCAPE.

Heat-Moon:
WITHOUT THE JOURNALS,

WE WOULDN'T REALLY HAVE
AN EXPEDITION TODAY.

IT WOULD BE LIKE
ALL THE OTHER EXPEDITIONS

THAT WENT OUT THERE,

BUT WITH
THOSE JOURNALS,

WE COME IN AS READING
A NOVEL, ALMOST,

BECAUSE THEY HAVE
THAT KIND OF POWER,

PARTICULARLY TO READ THE WRITING
OF MERIWETHER LEWIS,

WHO WAS
SUCH A FINE STYLIST.

Meriwether Lewis:
THIS IMMENSE RIVER,

SO FAR AS
WE HAVE YET ASCENDED,

WATERS ONE OF THE FAIREST
PORTIONS OF THE GLOBE.

NOR DO I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS
IN THE UNIVERSE

A SIMILAR EXTENT
OF COUNTRY.

MERIWETHER LEWIS.

Narrator: BUT DESPITE
JEFFERSON'S ORDERS

AND FOR REASONS
NOT ENTIRELY KNOWN,

THERE ARE LONG LAPSES
IN LEWIS' JOURNALS

DURING WHICH NO DAILY ENTRIES
CAN BE FOUND.

Ambrose: JEFFERSON SPOKE
TO THE MELANCHOLY STREAK

THAT RAN
IN THE FAMILY,

AND HE CERTAINLY
WAS A MAN

WHO COULD FALL
INTO A DEEP DEPRESSION.

AND YET HE HAD
A WILLPOWER AND AN ENERGY

SUFFICIENT TO OVERCOME
THOSE DEPRESSIONS

SO THAT ON THE EXPEDITION
ITSELF,

THE ONLY INDICATION
WE HAVE OF DEPRESSION

IS WHEN HE DOESN'T WRITE
IN HIS JOURNAL,

BUT THERE'S
NO INDICATION AT ALL

THAT IT EVER AFFECTED
HIS ACTIONS,

AND FOR A MANIC-DEPRESSIVE--
WHICH HE PRETTY CLEARLY WAS--

THAT TAKES
A TREMENDOUS WILLPOWER

TO OVERCOME THAT DEPRESSION
AND CONTINUE TO ACT.

Allen: I THINK HE KEPT
UNDER CONTROL

BECAUSE OF THE TREMENDOUS
NECESSITY

TO CONTINUE
THE JOURNEY--

HIS GREAT WISH TO FULFILL
THOMAS JEFFERSON'S HOPES.

I THINK IT WAS THE FORCE
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

MOVING
IN MERIWETHER LEWIS

THAT KEPT HIS POTENTIAL
FOR DEPRESSION AND MOROSENESS

UNDER CONTROL.

[THUNDER]

William Clark: ORDERLY BOOK,
JULY 12, 1804.

A COURT-MARTIAL

CONSISTING OF THE TWO
COMMANDING OFFICERS

WILL CONVENE
THIS DAY AT 1:00.

PRIVATE WILLARD--
CHARGED WITH LYING DOWN

AND SLEEPING ON HIS POST
WHILST A SENTINEL.

TO THIS CHARGE,

THE PRISONER PLEADS
GUILTY OF LYING DOWN,

NOT GUILTY
OF GOING TO SLEEP.

WILLIAM CLARK.

Narrator: ALONG
THE LOWER MISSOURI THAT SUMMER,

THE CAPTAINS CONVENED
AN IMPROMPTU COURT-MARTIAL

5 DIFFERENT TIMES.

Ambrose: AVERAGE AGE
WAS IN THE EARLY 20s.

PHYSICAL CONDITION
EXCELLENT.

KNOWLEDGE OF THE WILDERNESS
OUTSTANDING.

DEVOTION TO DUTY...

THEY WERE YOUNG MEN.

SOME OF THEM HAD TO HAVE
SOME LASHES LAID ON--

50, IN A COUPLE
OF CASES.

Narrator:
NEAR WHAT IS NOW KANSAS CITY,

HUGH HALL BROKE
INTO THE WHISKEY SUPPLY

AND GOT DRUNK.

JOHN COLLINS WAS PUNISHED
FOR A STRING OF OFFENSES,

INCLUDING
TALKING BACK TO CLARK.

AND FARTHER UP RIVER,

PRIVATE ALEXANDER WILLARD
WAS CONVICTED

OF SLEEPING
ON GUARD DUTY,

POTENTIALLY
A CAPITAL CRIME.

William Clark: THE COURT
ARE OF THE OPINION

THAT THE PRISONER
IS GUILTY

AND DO SENTENCE HIM
TO RECEIVE

100 LASHES
ON HIS BARE BACK

AND ORDER
THAT THE PUNISHMENT

COMMENCE THIS EVENING
AT SUNSET.

Narrator: BY FALL,

THERE WOULD BE NO MORE
SERIOUS BREACHES OF DISCIPLINE.

Charles Floyd: JULY 11--

CAME TO ABOUT 12:00
FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESTING
ONE OR TWO DAYS.

OUR OBJECT IN DELAYING HERE
IS TO TAKE SOME OBSERVATIONS
AND REST THE MEN,

WHO ARE MUCH FATIGUED.

THE MEN, ALL SICK.

JULY 31--I AM VERY SICK
AND HAVE BEEN FOR SOME TIME.

WE CAMPED AT ONE OF
THE BEAUTIFULLEST PRAIRIES
I EVER SAW,

OPEN AND BEAUTIFULLY DIVIDED,

WITH HILLS AND VALLEYS
ALL PRESENTING THEMSELVES.

CHARLES FLOYD.

Patrick Gass:
AUGUST 19--THIS DAY,
SERGEANT FLOYD BECAME VERY SICK

AND REMAINED SO ALL NIGHT.

HE WAS SEIZED WITH A COMPLAINT
SOMEWHAT LIKE A VIOLENT COLIC.

PATRICK GASS.

William Clark:
AUGUST 20--SERGEANT FLOYD
MUCH WEAKER AND NO BETTER.

NO PULSE, AND NOTHING WILL
STAY A MOMENT ON HIS STOMACH.

PASSED TWO ISLANDS,
AND AT THE FIRST BLUFF
ON THE STARBOARD SIDE,

SERGEANT FLOYD DIED
WITH A GREAT DEAL OF COMPOSURE.

BEFORE HIS DEATH,
HE SAID TO ME,

"I AM GOING AWAY. I WANT YOU
TO WRITE ME A LETTER."

WILLIAM CLARK.

Narrator: NEAR WHAT IS NOW
SIOUX CITY, IOWA,

SERGEANT CHARLES FLOYD DIED
FROM WHAT LEWIS DIAGNOSED
AS BILIOUS COLIC,

BUT WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN
A BURST APPENDIX.

Ambrose: THERE WAS NOTHING
THAT THEY COULD DO FOR HIM.

IF HE HAD BEEN IN PHILADELPHIA
WITH DR. RUSH AND THE LEADING
MEDICAL MEN OF THE DAY,

THERE'S NOTHING THEY COULD HAVE
DONE FOR HIM, EITHER.

Man: HE WAS LAID OUT
IN THE MOST DECENT
MANNER POSSIBLE.

WE DUG A GRAVE ON THE TOP
OF A ROUND KNOB

AND BURIED THE DECEASED
WITH THE HONORS OF WAR.

THE FUNERAL CEREMONY PERFORMED,

WE NAMED THIS HILL
FLOYD'S BLUFF.

PRIVATE JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE.

William Clark:
THIS MAN AT ALL TIMES

GAVE US PROOFS OF HIS FIRMNESS
AND DETERMINED RESOLUTION

TO DO SERVICE TO HIS COUNTRY
AND HONOR TO HIMSELF.

AFTER PAYING ALL THE HONOR
TO OUR DECEASED BROTHER,

WE CAMPED IN THE MOUTH
OF FLOYD'S RIVER,
ABOUT 30 YARDS WIDE.

A BEAUTIFUL EVENING.

WILLIAM CLARK.

Narrator: THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
HAD SUFFERED ITS FIRST FATALITY.

Patrick Gass: THERE IS NO TIMBER
IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY,

BUT CONTINUED PRAIRIE
ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER.

A PERSON, BY GOING ON
ONE OF THE HILLS,

MAY HAVE A VIEW
AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN REACH
WITHOUT ANY OBSTRUCTION

AND ENJOY THE MOST DELIGHTFUL
PROSPECTS.

PATRICK GASS.

Narrator: AS THEY MOVED
FARTHER NORTH AND WEST,

THE MEN NOTICED
THE LANDSCAPE CHANGING.

EXCEPT ALONG THE RIVERBANK,
THERE WERE VIRTUALLY NO TREES.

THE LAND SEEMED TO UNFOLD,
TO ROLL ON AND ON FOREVER.

THEY HAD EMERGED ONTO
ONE OF THE LARGEST GRASSLANDS
IN THE WORLD--

THE GREAT PLAINS.

THEY HAD NEVER SEEN
ANYTHING LIKE IT IN THEIR LIVES.

Heat-Moon: NONE OF
THE EARLY TRAVELERS
WHO CAME INTO THE WEST

AND ENCOUNTERED THE GREAT PLAINS

COULD BELIEVE
WHAT THEY WERE SEEING.

IT MAY BE THE FIRST COUPLE
OF DAYS OF TRAVELING THEM,
THEY COULD SAY,

"YES, THIS IS A LARGE MEADOW.

I UNDERSTAND MEADOWS,
AND THIS IS JUST
A BIGGER MEADOW."

BUT TIME IS WHAT MAKES
THE GREAT PLAINS COME ALIVE--

AND FEARFUL, ALSO,
TO ANY TRAVELER,

AND ESPECIALLY
TO LEWIS AND CLARK.

Duncan: THEY USED TO SAY
A SQUIRREL COULD START
AT THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

AND GO FROM TREE BRANCH
TO TREE BRANCH

AND MAKE IT
ALL THE WAY TO THE MISSISSIPPI.

WHEN THEY GET ON
THE GREAT PLAINS,

THAT'S WHERE THE SQUIRREL STOPS.

THESE ARE GUYS WHO ARE USED TO
LOOKING UP AND SEEING TREES,

AND NOW, NO TREES.

IT MUST HAVE JUST BEEN
STUPEFYING TO THEM.

YOU FEEL SO SMALL.

YOU FEEL LIKE THE WIND
CAN BLOW YOU

AND DO AT WILL WITH YOU
WHAT IT WISHES.

Narrator: NOW THEY BEGAN
TO ENCOUNTER ANIMALS

THEY HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE--

NEW ONES, IT SEEMED,
ALMOST EVERY DAY.

FOLLOWING JEFFERSON'S
INSTRUCTIONS,

THE EXPLORERS TOOK MEASUREMENTS
OF EACH NEW SPECIES,

NOTED THEIR HABITS,

PLACED THEIR SKINS AND SKELETONS
IN CRATES FOR SHIPMENT
BACK TO MONTICELLO.

THE DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS
THE MEN WROTE DOWN
IN THEIR NOTEBOOKS

WERE THE FIRST EVER RECORDED
FOR SCIENCE

OF COYOTES, PRAIRIE WOLVES,

JACK RABBITS, AND ANTELOPE.

John Ordway: CAPTAIN CLARK
KILLED A CURIOUS ANIMAL.

IT RESEMBLES A DEER
IN SOME PARTS--

THE LEGS LIKE A DEER,
FEET LIKE A GOAT,

HORNS LIKE A GOAT, ONLY FORKED.

SUCH AN ANIMAL WAS NEVER
YET KNOWN IN THE UNITED STATES.

William Clark: DISCOVERED
A VILLAGE OF SMALL ANIMALS

THAT BURROW IN THE GROUND.

IT COVERS ABOUT 4 ACRES

AND CONTAINS GREAT NUMBERS
OF HOLES,

ON THE TOP OF WHICH THOSE
LITTLE ANIMALS SIT ERECT,

MAKE A WHISTLING NOISE,
AND WHEN ALARMED,
SLIP INTO THEIR HOLE.

THOSE ANIMALS ARE CALLED
BY THE FRENCH PETIT CHIEN.

Duncan: THEY
WERE PRAIRIE DOGS,

AND THEY DECIDED,
WE GOT TO HAVE ONE OF THESE.

THEY TRIED TO DIG INTO
THE PRAIRIE DOG HOLES,

AND THEY COULDN'T
GET THEM THAT WAY.

THEY RAMMED RODS DOWN 6 FEET.
THEY STILL COULDN'T
GET THEM OUT.

THEY STARTED
HAULING WATER, YOU KNOW.

THEY HAD EVERY MAN IN
THE EXPEDITION EXCEPT A COUPLE
PEOPLE GUARDING THE BOAT

INVOLVED IN TRYING
TO CAPTURE A PRAIRIE DOG,

WHICH THEY FINALLY CAUGHT,
AND THEY SENT IT BACK LIVE
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Meriwether Lewis: THIS SCENERY,
ALREADY RICH, PLEASING,
AND BEAUTIFUL,

WAS STILL FARTHER HEIGHTENED
BY IMMENSE HERDS OF BUFFALO,

WHICH WE SAW IN EVERY DIRECTION
FEEDING ON THE HILLS
AND PLAINS.

I DO NOT THINK I EXAGGERATE

WHEN I ESTIMATE
THE NUMBER OF BUFFALO

WHICH COULD BE COMPREHENDED
AT ONE VIEW

TO AMOUNT TO 3,000.

Ambrose: IT WAS
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

NO AMERICAN HAD EVER SEEN
ANYTHING LIKE IT.

BUFFALO HERDS THAT
STRETCHED ACROSS THE HORIZON.

ELK HERDS THAT NUMBERED
IN THE HUNDREDS--INDEED,
IN THE THOUSANDS.

DEER SO PLENTIFUL
AS CHICKENS ON A FARM,
ACCORDING TO WILLIAM CLARK.

THE GRAPES. THE FRUITS.
THE GRASSES OF THE GREAT PLAINS.

THE ROLLING HILLS
OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.

THE BOUNDLESS HORIZON.

THIS WAS PARADISE.

Thomas Jefferson: THE COMMERCE
WHICH MAY BE CARRIED ON

WITH THE PEOPLE INHABITING
THE LINE YOU WILL PURSUE

RENDERS A KNOWLEDGE
OF THOSE PEOPLE IMPORTANT.

YOU WILL, THEREFORE,
AS FAR AS A DILIGENT PURSUIT
OF YOUR JOURNEY SHALL ADMIT,

ENDEAVOR TO MAKE YOURSELF
ACQUAINTED.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Narrator: AS THEY MOVED
UP THE RIVER THAT SUMMER

IN WHAT IS NOW NEBRASKA
AND SOUTH DAKOTA,

THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
MET WITH SEVERAL BANDS
OF NATIVE AMERICANS--

THE OTOS, THE ARIKARAS,
AND THE YANKTON SIOUX.

THE CAPTAINS TOLD EACH TRIBE
THAT THEIR LAND NOW BELONGED
TO THE UNITED STATES

AND THAT A MAN
FAR AWAY IN THE EAST
WAS THEIR NEW GREAT FATHER.

EACH ENCOUNTER WAS MARKED
BY FRIENDLY RELATIONS

AND FELL INTO A PREDICTABLE
PATTERN OF CEREMONY.

Duncan: THEY'D GIVE OUT
THESE PEACE MEDALS THAT
HAD JEFFERSON ON ONE SIDE

AND TWO HANDS SHAKING
ON THE OTHER.

THEY'D GIVE OUT THESE
LITTLE CERTIFICATES
THAT SAY, YOU KNOW,

"SPOTTED WEASEL IS NOW
AN OFFICIAL CHIEF."

AND THEY'D GIVE OUT PRESENTS
OF MIRRORS AND CLOTH AND TOBACCO
AND SOMETIMES WHISKEY,

ALTHOUGH ONE TRIBE SAID,
"WHY WOULD YOU GIVE US SOMETHING
THAT WOULD MAKE US FOOLS?"

THEN THEY WOULD SHOW OFF
FOR THE TRIBES.

THEY'D FIRE THEIR GUNS,
AND THEY HAD A BIG CANNON
THAT THEY'D SHOOT

TO SAY, "WE'RE FROM
A VERY MIGHTY COUNTRY."

AND THEN THEY'D HAVE
THE SPEECHES.

William Clark: CHILDREN,
THE GREAT CHIEF OF THE 17 GREAT
NATIONS OF AMERICA

HAS SENT US OUT
TO CLEAR THE ROAD
AND MAKE IT A ROAD OF PEACE.

WILLIAM CLARK.

Meriwether Lewis:
CHILDREN, YOU ARE TO LIVE
IN PEACE WITH ALL THE WHITE MEN.

INJURE NOT THE PERSONS
OF ANY TRADERS WHO VISIT YOU

UNDER THE PROTECTION
OF YOUR GREAT FATHER'S FLAG.

MERIWETHER LEWIS.

William Clark: CHILDREN,
FOLLOW HIS COUNSELS,

AND YOU WILL HAVE
NOTHING TO FEAR

BECAUSE THE GREAT SPIRIT
WILL SMILE UPON YOUR NATION,

AND IN FUTURE AGES
WILL MAKE YOU OUTNUMBER
THE TREES OF THE FOREST.

Man: THE SPEECH THAT
LEWIS AND CLARK GAVE THE TRIBES,

THERE WAS A LOT
OF PROMISES IN THERE.

THERE WAS THE PROMISES
OF FRIENDSHIP.

THERE WAS PROMISES
OF HELPING EACH OTHER SURVIVE.

THERE WAS A PROMISE OF
"THIS IS YOUR TERRITORY.

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO
INTERFERE WITH IT.

THIS IS YOUR LIVES. WE'RE NOT
GOING TO INTERFERE WITH IT."

AND SO THEY BELIEVED THEM.
THEY BELIEVED THEM.

THAT'S WHY THEY HAD
WELCOMED THEM WITH OPEN ARMS,

AND EVEN AFTER
THAT SPEECH WAS OVER.

Man: MY HEART IS GLADDER
THAN IT EVER WAS BEFORE
TO SEE A WHITE MAN.

IF YOU WANT TO OPEN THE ROAD,
NO ONE CAN PREVENT IT.

IT WILL ALWAYS BE OPEN TO YOU.

WHEN YOU RETURN,
IF I AM LIVING,

YOU WILL SEE ME AGAIN,
THE SAME MAN.

WE SHALL LOOK AT THE RIVER
WITH IMPATIENCE FOR YOUR RETURN.

KAKAWISSASSA,
LIGHTNING CROW.

Narrator:
ACCORDING TO THE YANKTON SIOUX,
DURING THE EXPEDITION'S VISIT,

A CHILD WAS BORN.

LEWIS WRAPPED THE BABY BOY
IN A UNITED STATES FLAG

AND DECLARED HIM AN AMERICAN.

BUT A CHIEF ALSO
ISSUED A WARNING.

"THE NEXT TRIBE
UP THE MISSOURI,"
HE TOLD THE CAPTAINS,

"WILL NOT OPEN THEIR EARS,
AND YOU CANNOT, I FEAR,
OPEN THEM."

THEY WERE THE TETON SIOUX,
ALSO KNOWN AS THE LAKOTA,

AND THEIR REPUTATION HAD ALREADY
REACHED WASHINGTON.

Thomas Jefferson:
YOU WILL PROBABLY MEET WITH
PARTIES OF THE TETON SIOUX.

ON THAT NATION,
WE WISH MOST PARTICULARLY
TO MAKE A FRIENDLY IMPRESSION

BECAUSE OF THEIR
IMMENSE POWER.

Narrator: THE LAKOTA
HAD ONLY RECENTLY MIGRATED WEST
ONTO THE GREAT PLAINS,

BUT THEY WERE NOW THE MOST
POWERFUL FORCE IN THE REGION,

DOMINATING EVERY OTHER TRIBE
AROUND THEM.

FOR YEARS, THEY HAD INTIMIDATED
FRENCH AND SPANISH BOATMEN,

STOPPED SOME
FROM CONTINUING UPRIVER,

DEMANDED TRIBUTE FROM OTHERS,
EVEN CONFISCATED CANOES
AND ALL THEIR CARGO,

UTTERLY CONTROLLING
THE FLOW OF TRADE GOODS
ALONG THE MISSOURI.

ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 25,

NEAR WHAT IS NOW PIERRE,
SOUTH DAKOTA,

THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
MET THE TETON SIOUX.

WHILE LARGE NUMBERS OF LAKOTAS
GATHERED ON BOTH SIDES
OF THE RIVER,

CHIEFS NAMED BLACK BUFFALO, THE
PARTISAN, AND BUFFALO MEDICINE,

ALONG WITH 30 WARRIORS,
CAME OVER TO TALK.

EVEN WILLIAM CLARK, WHO HAD BEEN
IN SCRAPES WITH INDIANS BEFORE,

SEEMED ANXIOUS.

John Ordway:
GAVE THE 3 CHIEFS 3 NEW MEDALS
AND ONE AMERICAN FLAG,

SOME KNIVES, AND OTHER
SMALL ARTICLES OF GOODS.

THEY DID NOT
APPEAR TO TALK MUCH
UNTIL THEY HAD GOT THE GOODS,

AND THEN THEY WANTED MORE
AND SAID WE MUST STOP WITH THEM

OR LEAVE ONE
OF THE CANOES WITH THEM,

AS THAT WAS WHAT THEY EXPECTED.

JOHN ORDWAY.

Ambrose: THE TETON SIOUX
TRIED TO FORCE A TOLL

THAT WAS BEYOND
THE EXPEDITION'S ABILITY TO PAY,

AND WHEN THE EXPEDITION
WOULDN'T PAY IT--

NOT ENOUGH TOBACCO, NOT ENOUGH
WHISKEY, NOT ENOUGH BEADS,

NOT ENOUGH GUNS--
WHICH WAS PRINCIPALLY
WHAT THEY WANTED--

THEY MADE AN ATTEMPT
TO STOP THE EXPEDITION.

Narrator: WHEN CLARK
BROUGHT THE CHIEFS BACK TO SHORE

AFTER SHOWING THEM
THE KEELBOAT,

3 WARRIORS SEIZED
HIS CANOE'S TOWROPE.

THE PARTISAN BEGAN
ARGUING WITH CLARK,
WHO DREW HIS SWORD.

ALONG THE BANK, LAKOTA WARRIORS
NOTCHED THEIR ARROWS.

ON BOARD THE KEELBOAT,
LEWIS LOADED THE CANNON.

THE FATE OF THE ENTIRE
EXPEDITION HUNG IN THE BALANCE.

John Ordway:
CAPTAIN CLARK TOLD THEM THAT
WE MUST AND WOULD GO ON,

THAT WE WERE NOT SQUAWS,
BUT WARRIORS.

THE CHIEF SAID
HE HAD WARRIORS, TOO,

AND IF WE WERE TO GO ON,
THEY WOULD FOLLOW US AND KILL

AND TAKE THE WHOLE OF US
BY DEGREES.

Ambrose: THIS WAS
THE TENSEST MOMENT

BECAUSE YOU HAD HUNDREDS
OF INDIANS ON THE RIVERBANK
WITH THEIR BOWS STRUNG

AND CLARK WITH HIS SWORD DRAWN,

READY TO DRIVE IT
THROUGH THE HEART
OF THE TETON SIOUX CHIEFS.

IF THEY DIDN'T LET GO
OF THE CORD OF THAT CANOE

THAT THEY WERE
TRYING TO HOLD ON TO
TO FORCE THIS PAYMENT,

CLARK WAS READY TO ACT.

"I FELT MYSELF GROW WARM,"
HE WROTE IN HIS JOURNAL.

Narrator: AT THAT MOMENT,
BLACK BUFFALO INTERVENED

AND DIPLOMATICALLY
CHANGED THE SUBJECT.

HIS ONLY REQUEST, HE SAID,

WAS THAT THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN
OF HIS VILLAGE

ALSO BE ALLOWED
TO COME AND SEE THE KEELBOAT

AND MEET THE EXPLORERS
BEFORE THEY MOVED ON.

CLARK QUICKLY AGREED,
AND FOR 3 MORE DAYS,

THE EXPEDITION NERVOUSLY
STAYED AMONG THE LAKOTA.

Joseph Whitehouse: THEY APPEAR
TO BE THE MOST FRIENDLY PEOPLE
I EVER SAW,

BUT THEY WILL STEAL AND PLUNDER
IF THEY CAN GET AN OPPORTUNITY.

ABOUT 15 DAYS AGO,
THEY HAD A BATTLE
WITH THE OMAHAS.

THEY KILLED 65 MEN
AND TOOK 25 WOMEN PRISONERS.

THEY TOOK THE 65 OMAHA SCALPS

AND HAD THEM HUNG
ON SMALL POLES,

WHICH THEIR WOMEN HELD
IN THEIR HANDS WHEN THEY DANCED.

THEY HAD DRUMS
AND WHISTLES FOR MUSIC.

THEY KEPT IT UP UNTIL 1:00,

DANCING WAR DANCES
AROUND THE FIRE,

WHICH WAS CURIOUS TO US.

JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE.

Narrator: BY THE TIME
THE EXPEDITION MOVED ON,

CLARK HAD FORMED AN OPINION
OF THE LAKOTAS

DIFFERENT FROM HIS ATTITUDE
TOWARD ALL OTHER INDIANS.

William Clark:
THESE ARE THE VILEST
MISCREANTS OF A SAVAGE RACE.

THEY MUST EVER REMAIN
THE PIRATES OF THE MISSOURI

UNTIL SUCH MEASURES ARE PURSUED
BY OUR GOVERNMENT

AS WILL MAKE THEM FEEL
A DEPENDENCE ON ITS WILL

FOR THEIR SUPPLY
OF MERCHANDISE.

WILLIAM CLARK.

Narrator: AS THE EXPLORERS
PUSHED NORTH

INTO WHAT IS NOW
NORTH DAKOTA,

HUGE FLOCKS OF GEESE
AND OTHER BIRDS PASSED OVERHEAD,

MIGRATING SOUTH.

IT WAS OCTOBER NOW.
THE WEATHER WAS TURNING COLDER.

THERE WERE FROSTS AT NIGHT,

EVEN AN OCCASIONAL
FLURRY OF SNOW.

CLARK WAS SEIZED BY RHEUMATISM,
WHICH LEWIS TREATED BY APPLYING
A HOT STONE WRAPPED IN FLANNEL.

WHEN THEY HAD LEFT ST. LOUIS,

THE CAPTAINS HAD HOPED TO REACH
THE HEADWATERS OF THE MISSOURI
BEFORE STOPPING FOR THE WINTER.

NOW THAT WAS CLEARLY
OUT OF THE QUESTION.

BY LATE OCTOBER,
ACCORDING TO CLARK'S ESTIMATES,

THEY HAD TRAVELED 1,600 MILES
UP THE BIG RIVER,

BUT THEY WERE
NOWHERE NEAR ITS SOURCE

OR THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
THEY BELIEVED WOULD
LEAD THEM TO THE SEA.

INSTEAD, AFTER 6 MONTHS
OF HARD TRAVEL,

THEY WERE ARRIVING
AT THE LAST FIXED POINT
ON THEIR MAP OF THE RIVER,

BEYOND WHICH EVERYTHING
WAS ONLY RUMOR AND CONJECTURE.

HERE THE CAPTAINS REALIZED
THEY WOULD HAVE TO FIND
A SAFE PLACE

IN THE VASTNESS
OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS
TO SURVIVE THE WINTER.

Woman: WHEN YOU WHITE PEOPLE
MET OUR MANDAN PEOPLE,

WE GAVE TO THE WHITES
THE NAME MACI,

MEANING NICE PEOPLE
OR PRETTY PEOPLE.

WE SAID ALSO, WE WILL
CALL THESE PEOPLE OUR FRIENDS.

Narrator: FOR CENTURIES,

THE MANDANS
OF THE UPPER MISSOURI

HAD BEEN ONE OF THE DOMINANT
TRIBES ON THE GREAT PLAINS,

PROSPEROUS FARMERS WHO
LIVED WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS,
THE HIDATSAS,

IN 5 LARGE VILLAGES
OF EARTH LODGES,

HOME TO 4,500 PEOPLE,

MORE THAN LIVED IN ST. LOUIS
OR WASHINGTON, D.C.

EACH YEAR, DELEGATIONS
OF CROWS, ASSINIBOINES,
CHEYENNES, AND CREES

CAME GREAT DISTANCES
TO TRADE WITH THEM.

EUROPEANS HAD COME, TOO--

REPRESENTATIVES OF FRANCE,
SPAIN, AND ENGLAND,

EACH COUNTRY RACING TO FIND
THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE

AND THE GREAT WEALTH
IT WOULD ADD TO THEIR EMPIRES.

ON OCTOBER 24, 1804, NEAR WHAT
IS NOW BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA,

THE MANDANS LOOKED DOWN
FROM THE BLUFFS OF THE MISSOURI

AND SAW THE LATEST
GROUP OF WHITE MEN
TO ARRIVE AT THEIR VILLAGE.

IT WAS THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY.

THE MANDANS
WELCOMED THE STRANGERS,

LISTENED TO THEIR SPEECHES,
ACCEPTED THEIR GIFTS,

AND INVITED THEM TO BUILD A FORT
RIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER.

Man: OUR WISH
IS TO BE AT PEACE WITH ALL.

IF WE EAT, YOU SHALL EAT.

IF WE STARVE,
YOU MUST STARVE, ALSO.

SHEHEKE, BIG WHITE.

Meriwether Lewis: FORT MANDAN,

1,609 MILES ABOVE THE ENTRANCE
OF THE MISSOURI.

DEAR MOTHER...

THE NEAR APPROACH OF WINTER,
THE LOW STATE OF THE WATER,

AND THE KNOWN
SCARCITY OF TIMBER

WHICH EXISTS ON THE MISSOURI
FOR MANY HUNDREDS OF MILES

DETERMINED
MY FRIEND AND COMPANION
CAPTAIN CLARK AND MYSELF

TO FORTIFY OURSELVES
AND REMAIN FOR THE WINTER

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
OF THE MANDANS,

WHO ARE THE MOST FRIENDLY
AND WELL-DISPOSED SAVAGES
THAT WE HAVE YET MET WITH.

GIVE YOURSELF NO UNEASINESS
WITH RESPECT TO MY FATE,

FOR I ASSURE YOU THAT
I FEEL MYSELF PERFECTLY SAFE,

AND THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
3,000 OR 4,000 MILES AND 130

IS THAT I CANNOT HAVE
THE PLEASURE OF SEEING YOU

AS OFTEN AS I DID
WHILE AT WASHINGTON.

MERIWETHER LEWIS.

Narrator: WINTER
CAME EARLY THAT YEAR
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS.

BY NOVEMBER 13,
ICE WAS RUNNING IN THE RIVER.

THE WATER IN SOME COTTONWOODS
EXPANDED AS IT FROZE,

SHATTERING THE TREES
WITH A SOUND LIKE CANNON FIRE.

THE WIND NEVER
SEEMED TO STOP.

THE TEMPERATURE
KEPT DROPPING, "COLDER,"
WROTE SERGEANT JOHN ORDWAY,

"THAN I EVER KNEW IT TO BE
IN THE STATES."

Patrick Gass:
DECEMBER 6, 1804.

IN THE NIGHT,
THE RIVER FROZE OVER

AND IN THE MORNING WAS COVERED
WITH SOLID ICE 1 1/2" THICK.

PATRICK GASS.

William Clark: DECEMBER 12--
A CLEAR, COLD MORNING.

THE THERMOMETER AT SUNRISE
STOOD AT 38 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.

THE WEATHER IS SO COLD THAT
WE DO NOT THINK IT PRUDENT
TO TURN OUT TO HUNT,

AT LEAST UNTIL
OUR CONSTITUTIONS ARE PREPARED
TO UNDERGO THIS CLIMATE.

DECEMBER 17,
A VERY COLD MORNING--

45 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.

WILLIAM CLARK.

Narrator: THAT WINTER,
THE MANDANS CROSSED
THE FROZEN RIVER OFTEN.

THEY BROUGHT CORN, BEANS,
AND BUFFALO ROBES

IN EXCHANGE FOR REPAIRS
ON THEIR KNIVES AND KETTLES

THAT ALEXANDER WILLARD,
A FORMER BLACKSMITH,

MADE ON A FORGE THE EXPEDITION
HAD BROUGHT ALONG.

Duncan: YOU'RE NOT SURE
WHO'S EXPLORING WHO SOMETIMES.

LEWIS AND CLARK ARE WRITING DOWN
THE CUSTOMS OF THE MANDANS.

THE MANDANS ARE COMING OVER
TO SEE, "HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON
IN THIS FORT?"

THERE WAS A ONE-EYED BOATMAN
NAMED PIERRE CRUZATTE
WHO PLAYED THE FIDDLE,

AND EVERYONE ENJOYED THAT,

AND TO WATCH THE AMERICANS
DANCE FOR THEM,

AND THEN THE AMERICANS
WOULD WATCH THE MANDANS
DO A DANCE FOR THEM.

IT WAS A COLD, COLD WINTER,
BUT IT WAS MADE A LOT WARMER

JUST BY THE FRIENDSHIP
OF THE DIFFERENT CULTURES.

William Clark:
THOSE INDIANS WERE
MUCH ASTONISHED AT MY SERVANT.

THEY NEVER SAW
A BLACK MAN BEFORE.

ALL FLOCKED AROUND HIM

AND EXAMINED HIM
FROM TOP TO TOE.

Narrator: TO THE AMERICANS,
YORK WAS A SLAVE.

TO THE INDIANS,
HE WAS BIG MEDICINE.

Baker: AND I REMEMBER MY FATHER
TELLING ME ABOUT THIS STORY,

TAKING DIRT
AND TRY TO GO UP TO HIM
AND RUB THAT BLACK OFF,

AND WHEN THEY FOUND OUT
THEY COULDN'T RUB IT OFF,
THAT HE WAS A MAN--

OF COURSE, HE WAS VERY MUSCULAR
AND HE WAS A BIG MAN,
APPARENTLY.

AND SO THEY HAD
A LOT OF RESPECT FOR THAT,

AND HE WAS FOLLOWED AROUND
ALL THE TIME BY THE CHILDREN
AND BY THE WOMEN

BECAUSE HE WAS POWERFUL,
AND PEOPLE RESPECTED THAT.

AND HE WAS DIFFERENT.
HE WAS DIFFERENT.

INDIAN WAY TEACHES US THAT
JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE DIFFERENT
DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT'S WRONG.

Narrator: IN EARLY
JANUARY OF 1805,

WITH THE SUPPLY OF MEAT
RUNNING LOW,

THE MANDANS INVITED
THE EXPEDITION TO PARTICIPATE
IN A SPECIAL CEREMONY.

IT WAS A SACRED RITUAL

MEANT TO CALL THE BUFFALO HERDS
BACK TO THE VICINITY
OF THE VILLAGE.

William Clark: JANUARY 5, 1805--

A BUFFALO DANCE
FOR 3 NIGHTS PAST
IN THE FIRST VILLAGE.

A CURIOUS CUSTOM.

THE OLD MEN ARRANGE THEMSELVES
IN A CIRCLE,

AND THE YOUNG MEN
GO TO ONE OF THE OLD MEN
WITH A WHINING TONE

AND REQUEST THE OLD MAN
TO TAKE HIS WIFE,

WHO PRESENTS HERSELF NAKED
EXCEPT A ROBE,

AND SLEEP WITH HER.

ALL THIS IS TO CAUSE
THE BUFFALO TO COME NEAR
SO THAT THEY MAY KILL THEM.

WE SENT A MAN TO THIS
MEDICINE DANCE LAST NIGHT.

THEY GAVE HIM 4 GIRLS.

WILLIAM CLARK.

Narrator: TWO DAYS LATER,
THE BUFFALO SHOWED UP.

Patrick Gass: CAPTAIN LEWIS
AND 11 MORE OF US WENT OUT

AND SAW THE PRAIRIE
COVERED WITH BUFFALO

AND THE INDIANS ON HORSEBACK,
KILLING THEM.

THEY KILLED 30 OR 40,
AND WE KILLED 11 OF THEM.

THEY SHOOT THEM
WITH BOWS AND ARROWS

AND HAVE THEIR HORSES TRAINED
THAT THEY WILL ADVANCE
VERY NEAR

AND SUDDENLY WHEEL AND FLY OFF
IN CASE THE WOUNDED BUFFALO
ATTEMPT AN ATTACK.

SERGEANT PATRICK GASS.

Narrator:
THROUGHOUT THE WINTER,

MERIWETHER LEWIS'
PRIMITIVE MEDICAL SKILLS

WERE CONTINUALLY
PRESSED INTO SERVICE.

HE HAD TO AMPUTATE
THE FROZEN TOES OF AN INDIAN BOY

WITHOUT ANESTHESIA
OR A SURGICAL SAW.

BY LATE JANUARY,
MANY OF THE MEN

SHOWED SIGNS
OF VENEREAL DISEASE,

WHICH LEWIS TREATED
WITH A SALVE OF MERCURY.

AND ON THE BITTERLY COLD EVENING
OF FEBRUARY 11,

LEWIS MADE A MOST
UNUSUAL HOUSECALL.

A BABY WAS BEING BORN,
AND THE YOUNG MOTHER

WAS HAVING TROUBLE
WITH THE DELIVERY.

HER NAME WAS SACAGAWEA--
A SHOSHONE GIRL

WHO HAD BEEN CAPTURED
SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER

BY THE HIDATSAS

AND THEN SOLD
TO TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU,

A FRENCH CANADIAN
FUR TRADER.

LEARNING THAT THE SHOSHONES
LIVED NEAR THE HEADWATERS
OF THE MISSOURI

AND THINKING THEY MIGHT
NEED A GOOD INTERPRETER
WHEN THEY REACHED IT,

THE CAPTAINS HAD HIRED
SACAGAWEA'S HUSBAND,

KNOWING SHE WOULD
COME WITH HIM.

Duncan: SHE'S CALLED
A LOT OF DIFFERENT NAMES--

SACAKAWEA, SACAGAWEA,
SACAGAWEA, BIRD WOMAN.

SHE'S A TEENAGER.
SHE'S ABOUT 16 YEARS OLD.

SHE'S ONE OF TWO WIVES
OF TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU.

SHE'S PREGNANT
WHEN THEY HIRE HER.

UM, BUT THEY KNEW
THAT SHE WOULD BE ESSENTIAL,

AND SHE BECAME ONE
OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEMBERS

OF THE EXPEDITION.

Narrator: BUT NOW,
SHE WAS IN LABOR.

IT WAS EXCRUCIATINGLY SLOW,
LEWIS NOTED,

AND THE PAIN VIOLENT.

SOMEONE SUGGESTED THAT THE RINGS
OF A RATTLESNAKE

CRUSHED INTO POWDER
AND GIVEN WITH WATER

SOMETIMES HELPED EASE
AND SPEED A BABY'S DELIVERY.

LEWIS GOT SOME
FROM HIS COLLECTION
OF ANIMAL SKINS AND PLANTS.

SACAGAWEA WAS GIVEN
THE RATTLESNAKE POTION.

[BABY CRYING]

Meriwether Lewis:
WHETHER THIS MEDICINE
WAS TRULY THE CAUSE OR NOT

I SHALL NOT UNDERTAKE
TO DETERMINE,

BUT SHE HAD NOT TAKEN IT
MORE THAN 10 MINUTES

BEFORE SHE BROUGHT FORTH.

Narrator: IT WAS A BOY,
WHOM CHARBONNEAU NAMED
JEAN-BAPTISTE.

AND THE CAPTAINS AGREED
THAT WHEN SPRING FINALLY CAME,

HE COULD GO WEST WITH THEM

AS THE YOUNGEST MEMBER
OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY.

Thomas Jefferson: I KNOW THAT
THE ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA

HAS BEEN
DISAPPROVED BY SOME

FROM A CANDID APPREHENSION

THAT THE ENLARGEMENT
OF OUR TERRITORY

WOULD ENDANGER ITS UNION.

BUT IS IT NOT BETTER
THAT THE OPPOSITE BANK
OF THE MISSISSIPPI

SHOULD BE SETTLED
BY OUR BRETHREN AND CHILDREN

THAN BY STRANGERS
FROM ANOTHER FAMILY?

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Narrator: IN THE EAST,
PRESIDENT JEFFERSON

HAD BEEN RE-ELECTED
TO A SECOND TERM,

BUT HIS DECISION TO PURCHASE
THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY

STILL HAD MANY ENEMIES.

FAR AWAY, IN MEXICO CITY,
NERVOUS SPANISH AUTHORITIES

FEARED THAT THE REAL MISSION
OF THE EXPEDITION

WAS TO PREPARE
THE UNITED STATES

TO CONQUER TEXAS,
THE SOUTHWEST,

PERHAPS MEXICO ITSELF.

UNBEKNOWNST TO JEFFERSON
AND THE CAPTAINS,

SPAIN HAD ALREADY SENT
A DETACHMENT OF SOLDIERS

AND COMANCHE INDIANS

NORTH TO INTERCEPT
THE EXPEDITION.

THEY FAILED,
REACHING THE PLATTE RIVER

JUST A MONTH AFTER
LEWIS AND CLARK HAD PASSED.

NOW THE VICEROYS
IN MEXICO CITY

WERE PLANNING ANOTHER ATTEMPT
TO CATCH THE EXPLORERS

ON THE RETURN TRIP.

IN MID-FEBRUARY,
GEORGE DROUILLARD RETURNED
FROM A HUNTING EXPEDITION

TO SAY THAT A BAND OF LAKOTAS
HAD STOLEN TWO HORSES.

THE LAKOTAS BRAGGED ABOUT IT
TO A FRENCH FUR TRADER,

WHO REPORTED BACK
TO THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY.

John Ordway: MR. TABO SAID
TO KEEP A GOOD LOOKOUT,

FOR HE HEARD THE SIOUX SAY
THAT THEY SHOULD SURELY

COME TO WAR IN THE SPRING
AGAINST US AND THE MANDANS.

THEY SAY IF THEY CAN
CATCH ANY MORE OF US,

THEY WILL KILL US,

FOR THEY THINK
THAT WE ARE BAD MEDICINE.

JOHN ORDWAY.

Narrator: BUT LEWIS AND CLARK
WERE ALREADY PLANNING

TO BE MUCH FARTHER WEST

BY THE TIME
THE LAKOTAS RETURNED.

AS THE LONG WINTER
SLOWLY ENDED,

THEY ASKED THEIR INDIAN FRIENDS
WHAT LAY AHEAD.

THE CHIEFS DREW LINES
ON THE DIRT FLOORS
OF THEIR LODGES,

WHILE CLARK TRANSFERRED
THE INFORMATION

ONTO A MAP HE WAS PREPARING
FOR JEFFERSON.

THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS WATERFALL
FARTHER UPRIVER,

ONE CHIEF TOLD THEM,

AND THEN THEY WOULD
HAVE TO PASS THROUGH
A RANGE OF SHINING MOUNTAINS.

THE CAPTAINS CALCULATED THAT
THE PORTAGE AROUND THE FALLS

WOULD TAKE ONLY HALF A DAY,

AND THE MOUNTAINS,
THEY WERE SURE,

WERE LIKE THE ONES
THEY KNEW IN VIRGINIA--

2 OR 3 DAYS AT MOST
TO CROSS.

THEY TOLD THE CHIEFS THEY COULD
MAKE IT TO THE PACIFIC

AND BACK TO THE MANDAN VILLAGES
BEFORE WINTER CAME AGAIN.

BY EARLY APRIL, THE ICE
WAS OUT OF THE RIVER.

LEWIS AND CLARK SENT A DOZEN MEN
BACK TO ST. LOUIS

WITH A BIG KEELBOAT LOADED
WITH MATERIALS FOR JEFFERSON--

LENGTHY REPORTS
ABOUT INDIAN TRIBES,

BOX AFTER BOX
OF SPECIMENS,

AND 5 LIVE ANIMALS,

INCLUDING THE PRAIRIE DOG
THEY HAD FLOODED FROM ITS HOME.

WITH THE SHIPMENT
WENT A LETTER FROM LEWIS

SPEAKING FOR ALL OF THOSE
WHO WERE ABOUT TO LEAVE
FORT MANDAN FOR THE UNKNOWN.

THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
WAS NO LONGER

THE UNDISCIPLINED COLLECTION
OF FRONTIERSMEN

WHO HAD LEFT ST. LOUIS
A YEAR EARLIER.

Meriwether Lewis:
AT THIS MOMENT, EVERY
INDIVIDUAL OF THE PARTY

ARE IN GOOD HEALTH
AND EXCELLENT SPIRITS,

ZEALOUSLY ATTACHED
TO THE ENTERPRISE

AND ANXIOUS TO PROCEED.

NOT A WHISPER
OF DISCONTENT OR MURMUR

IS TO BE HEARD AMONG THEM,

BUT ALL IN UNISON ACT
WITH THE MOST PERFECT HARMONY.

WITH SUCH MEN,
I HAVE BUT LITTLE TO FEAR

AND EVERYTHING TO HOPE.

Duncan: THEY'RE GOING TO
LEAVE FORT MANDAN

AS A COHESIVE TEAM.

THEY'VE SPENT A LONG YEAR
GOING UP THE RIVER TOGETHER,

AND THEY'VE SPENT
A REALLY HARD WINTER TOGETHER

IN NORTH DAKOTA.

SO NOW THEY'RE GOING TO
WORK AS A TEAM,

AND THEY'RE
GOING TO NEED IT

BECAUSE THEY'RE LEAVING
WHERE THE MAP IS

AND THEY'RE ABOUT TO GO
INTO THE REAL UNKNOWN.

Meriwether Lewis: WE WERE NOW
ABOUT TO PENETRATE A COUNTRY

AT LEAST 2,000 MILES
IN WIDTH

ON WHICH THE FOOT
OF CIVILIZED MAN
HAD NEVER TRODDEN.

THE GOOD OR EVIL
IT HAD IN STORE FOR US

WAS FOR EXPERIMENT
YET TO DETERMINE.

YET ENTERTAINING AS I DO
THE MOST CONFIDENT HOPE
OF SUCCEEDING IN A VOYAGE

WHICH HAD FORMED A PROJECT
OF MINE FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS,

I COULD BUT ESTEEM
THIS MOMENT OF MY DEPARTURE

AS AMONG THE MOST HAPPY
OF MY LIFE.

MERIWETHER LEWIS.

Narrator: ON APRIL 7, 1805,

THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
HEADED WEST ONCE MORE.

TRAVELING IN 6 DUGOUTS
AND 2 LARGER CANOES,

THEY PUSHED
INTO WHAT IS NOW MONTANA,

FARTHER WEST
THAN ANY WHITE MAN

HAD GONE BEFORE
ON THE RIVER.

FIERCE HEADWINDS
SLOWED THEIR PROGRESS,

SOMETIMES STOPPED THEM
FOR ENTIRE DAYS.

SAND BLEW IN THEIR FACES
AND SCRATCHED THEIR EYES--

"SO PENETRATING,"
LEWIS WROTE,

"WE ARE COMPELLED TO EAT,
DRINK, AND BREATHE IT."

THERE WERE JUST 33 MEMBERS
OF THE PARTY NOW,

INCLUDING THE YOUNG
SHOSHONE WOMAN SACAGAWEA.

SHE DUG FOR PRAIRIE TURNIPS
AND ARTICHOKES,

PICKED WILD LICORICE AND BERRIES
FOR THE CAPTAINS' DINNERS.

AND WITH HER WAS HER INFANT SON
JEAN-BAPTISTE,

WHOM THE MEN CALLED
"LITTLE POMP."

Ambrose: AND SHE
BROUGHT A WOMAN'S TOUCH
TO THIS EXPEDITION.

I LIKE TO THINK THAT
AS SHE WAS NURSING POMP

AT NIGHT
AROUND THE CAMPFIRE,

THAT SCENE HAD TO HAVE HAD
A GREAT EFFECT ON THE MEN.

TO HEAR A WOMAN'S LAUGH
AT NIGHT AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

BOLSTERED SPIRITS.

Funkhouser: WELL, I THINK
IT'S A DIFFERENT JOURNEY

FOR EVERYBODY
WHO'S MAKING IT,

AND IT'S CERTAINLY A DIFFERENT
JOURNEY FOR SACAGAWEA.

SHE, UNLIKE ANYONE ELSE
IN THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY,

IS MAKING A RETURN VOYAGE.

SHE'S GOING BACK HOME.

SHE WAS ALSO TENDING
TO THIS INFANT

AND CARRYING IT
ALMOST THE ENTIRE
EXPEDITION ON HER BACK,

AS FAR AS WE KNOW.

THOUSANDS OF MILES
WITH A BABY...

WITH A BABY.

Narrator:
ONE BLUSTERY DAY,

SACAGAWEA'S HUSBAND
CHARBONNEAU

LOST CONTROL
OF HIS BOAT.

THE EXPEDITION'S SCIENTIFIC
EQUIPMENT, BOOKS, AND MEDICINES

BEGAN TO WASH OVERBOARD.

CHARBONNEAU PANICKED,
BUT SACAGAWEA REMAINED CALM

AND SOMEHOW MANAGED
TO RESCUE EVERYTHING,

INCLUDING THE JOURNALS
OF LEWIS AND CLARK.

CHARBONNEAU,
LEWIS WROTE LATER,

WAS A MAN
OF NO PARTICULAR MERIT,

BUT SACAGAWEA, HE SAID,

WAS AS BRAVE AS ANYONE
ON THE EXPEDITION.

Meriwether Lewis:
ABOUT 5 MILES ABOVE THE MOUTH
OF THE MUSSELSHELL RIVER,

A HANDSOME RIVER
OF ABOUT 50 YARDS IN WIDTH
DISCHARGED ITSELF.

THIS STREAM WE CALLED SACAGAWEA
OR BIRD WOMAN'S RIVER,

AFTER OUR INTERPRETER,
THE SHOSHONE WOMAN.

Narrator: WITH EACH MILE
IT TRAVELED NOW,

THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
WAS MAPPING NEW TERRITORY.

THE CAPTAINS STRUGGLED
TO THINK OF NAMES

FOR EVERY LANDMARK
THEY ENCOUNTERED--

BRATTON'S, WISER'S, WINDSOR'S,
AND THOMSON'S CREEK

FOR MEN IN THE EXPEDITION,

UNTIL THE NAME OF EVERY MEMBER
OF THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY

WAS AFFIXED TO THE LAND.

ON MAY 29,
THEY SAW ANOTHER RIVER,

WHOSE WATERS SEEMED MUCH CLEARER
THAN THE OTHERS THEY HAD SEEN.

CLARK CONSIDERED IT
AN ESPECIALLY PRETTY STREAM

AND NAMED IT
THE JUDITH RIVER

IN HONOR OF A YOUNG GIRL
BACK IN VIRGINIA

HE HOPED ONE DAY
WOULD BE HIS WIFE.

[BEAR GROWLING]

DURING THE WINTER
IN NORTH DAKOTA,

THE HIDATSAS HAD TOLD
LEWIS AND CLARK

ABOUT THIS FEROCIOUS ANIMAL
THAT LIVES WHERE YOU'RE
GOING TO BE GOING.

IT'S A BIG BEAR, A BEAR THE SIZE
THAT YOU'VE NEVER SEEN.

WELL, AS THEY'RE GOING WEST
INTO MONTANA,

THEY START SEEING
SOME BIG BEAR TRACKS.

THEY THINK, "HEY,
THIS MUST BE IT."

BUT THEY'RE MORE CURIOUS
THAN FRIGHTENED OF IT.

[BEAR ROARING]

Narrator: IT WAS THE GRIZZLY.

AFTER PASSING THE MOUTH
OF THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER,

LEWIS AND ANOTHER HUNTER
SHOT THEIR FIRST ONE.

Ambrose: AND LEWIS REMARKED
IN HIS JOURNAL

THAT "I CAN UNDERSTAND
WHY THE INDIANS ARE AFRAID

"OF THESE BEARS, WITH THEIR
INDIFFERENT LITTLE MUSKETS

"THAT THE BRITISH SELL TO THEM
AND THEIR BOWS AND ARROWS,

BUT WE GOT KENTUCKY LONG RIFLES.
WE CAN TAKE ON ANYTHING."

AFTER ABOUT THE THIRD BEAR,

THE RESOLUTION OF THE MEN
BEGAN TO CRUMBLE A BIT

BECAUSE THESE GENTLEMEN
WERE SO HARD TO KILL.

THEY'D HIT THESE BEARS
WITH 8, 10, 12 SLUGS--

SOME OF THEM THROUGH THE BRAINS,
OTHERS THROUGH THE LUNGS,

SOMETIMES THROUGH THE HEART--

AND THESE BEARS WERE
STILL COMING AFTER THEM.

[BEAR GROWLING]

[GUNSHOT]

Duncan: IT CHASES THEM OFF
THE PLAIN AND INTO THE RIVER.

THEY MEET ANOTHER ONE
WHO CHASES SOME MEN UP A TREE.

EVERYWHERE THEY'RE GOING,
THEY'RE MEETIN THESE BIG
GRIZZLY BEARS

THAT THEY JUST
HAVE TROUBLE KILLING.

AND FINALLY LEWIS
SITS DOWN ONE NIGHT
TO WRITE IN HIS JOURNAL.

HE SAYS, "I FIND
THE CURIOSITY OF OUR MEN

WITH RESPECT TO THIS ANIMAL
IS PRETTY MUCH SATISFIED."

Meriwether Lewis:
MAY 30. MANY CIRCUMSTANCES
INDICATE OUR NEAR APPROACH

TO A COUNTRY WHOSE CLIMATE
DIFFERS CONSIDERABLY

FROM THAT IN WHICH WE HAVE
BEEN FOR MANY MONTHS.

Narrator: LEWIS NOTED
IN HIS JOURNAL

THAT THE AIR
WAS MUCH DRIER.

THE INK IN HIS INKSTAND
EVAPORATED MORE QUICKLY.

A WOODEN CASE
SHRANK AT THE JOINTS

FROM THE LACK
OF HUMIDITY.

John Ordway: THIS COUNTRY
MAY WITH PROPRIETY

BE CALLED THE DESERTS
OF NORTH AMERICA,

FOR I DO NOT CONCEIVE ANY PART
OF IT CAN EVER BE SETTLED,

AS IT IS DEFICIENT OF WATER
EXCEPT IN THIS RIVER

AND DEFICIENT OF TIMBER

AND TOO STEEP
TO BE TILLED.

JOHN ORDWAY.

Ambrose: LEWIS WRITES
AT ONE POINT

THAT "IF THIS RIVER
WEREN'T GROWING A LITTLE
SHALLOWER EVERY DAY,

I WOULD SUSPECT THAT IT WOULD
NEVER HAVE AN END."

MOUNTAINS WERE FINALLY SEEN
IN THE END OF MAY OF 1805,

BUT THEY WERE SO FAR
IN THE DISTANCE,

AND IT JUST SEEMED
YOU WOULD NEVER, EVER
BE ABLE TO GET TO THEM.

MEANWHILE,
YOU'RE STRUGGLING ALONG,

KNOWING THESE MOUNTAINS
ARE HUNDREDS OF MILES OUT THERE,

AND YOU'RE MAKING
10, 12 MILES A DAY.

IT'S ALWAYS SEEMED TO ME
THAT THEY MUST HAVE BEEN,

EVERY TIME THEY LOOKED UP
FROM THAT RIVER,

WONDERING, "MY GOD ALMIGHTY.
WILL WE EVER MAKE IT?

WILL THIS RIVER EVER
HAVE AN END TO IT?"

Narrator: NOW THEY ENTERED
A NEW SECTION OF THE MISSOURI.

THE INDIANS HAD NOT
TOLD THEM ABOUT IT,

AND THEY WERE UNPREPARED
FOR ITS WILD BEAUTY.

Meriwether Lewis:
THE HILLS AND RIVER CLIFFS
WHICH WE PASSED TODAY

EXHIBIT A MOST ROMANTIC
APPEARANCE.

THE BLUFFS OF THE RIVER
RISE TO THE HEIGHT

OF FROM 200 TO 300 FEET

AND, IN MOST PLACES,
NEARLY PERPENDICULAR.

THEY ARE FORMED OF REMARKABLE
WHITE SANDSTONE.

NICHES AND ALCOVES
OF VARIOUS FORMS AND SIZES

ARE SEEN AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS
AS WE PASS.

THE TOPS OF THE COLUMNS
DID NOT THE LESS REMIND US

OF SOME OF THOSE
LARGE, STONE BUILDINGS
IN THE UNITED STATES.

Patrick Gass:
WE PASSED SOME VERY CURIOUS
CLIFFS AND ROCKY PEAKS

IN A LONG RANGE,

SOME OF THEM 200 FEET HIGH
AND NOT MORE THAN 8 FEET THICK.

THEY SEEM AS IF BUILT
BY THE HAND OF MAN

AND ARE SO NUMEROUS
THAT THEY APPEAR LIKE THE RUINS
OF AN ANCIENT CITY.

Meriwether Lewis:
AS WE PASSED ON, IT SEEMED
AS IF THOSE SCENES

OF VISIONARY ENCHANTMENT
WOULD NEVER HAVE AN END.

MERIWETHER LEWIS.

Narrator: BUT NOW
AN UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE
SUDDENLY FACED THEM.

Man: JUNE 2. WE CAMPED
AT A FORK OF THE RIVER.

WE COULD NOT DETERMINE
WHICH ONE WAS THE MISSOURI.

OUR OFFICERS AND ALL THE MEN
DIFFER IN THEIR OPINIONS

OF WHICH RIVER TO TAKE.

Narrator: THE INDIANS HAD NOT
MENTIONED SUCH A FORK.

THE NORTHERN BRANCH
WAS MUDDY,

JUST AS THE RIVER HAD BEEN
ALL THE WAY FROM ST. LOUIS,

AND MOST OF THE MEN
BELIEVED IT WAS THEREFORE
THE TRUE MISSOURI.

LEWIS AND CLARK
THOUGHT OTHERWISE--

THAT THE MISSOURI SHOULD BE
GETTING SWIFTER AND CLEARER,

LIKE A MOUNTAIN RIVER,

IF IT WAS TO LEAD THEM
TO THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE.

THEY WANTED TO FOLLOW
THE SOUTHERN BRANCH.

Meriwether Lewis:
TO ASCEND THE WRONG STREAM

WOULD NOT ONLY LOSE US
THE WHOLE OF THIS SEASON,

BUT WOULD PROBABLY
SO DISHEARTEN THE PARTY

THAT IT MIGHT DEFEAT
THE EXPEDITION ALTOGETHER.

Duncan: RATHER THAN
JUST SAYING,

"WE SAY IT'S THIS WAY.
WE'RE GOING THIS WAY,"

WHICH THEY COULD DO
AS MILITARY COMMANDERS,

THEY SAID, "WE'LL STOP.
WE'LL RECONNOITER.

WE'LL CHECK UP THIS RIVER.
WE'LL CHECK UP THAT RIVER"

BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BRING
THESE PEOPLE ALONG WITH THEM.

THEY'RE WAY OUT THERE NOW.

I MEAN, THEY'RE A LONG WAY
FROM ANYWHERE,

AND IF THEY MAKE
THE WRONG CHOICE, THEY'RE SUNK.

Narrator: LEWIS FOLLOWED
THE MUDDY STREAM FOR 40 MILES,

FAR ENOUGH
TO CONVINCE HIMSELF

THAT IT LED TOWARD
THE ENDLESS CANADIAN PLAINS,

NOT TOWARD THE PACIFIC.

HE AND CLARK NAMED IT
THE MARIAS,

BUT TO A MAN,
THE REST OF THE EXPEDITION

REMAINED CONVINCED
IT WAS THE MISSOURI.

Ambrose: NEVERTHELESS,
LEWIS AND CLARK MADE
THE DECISION--

"WE'RE GOING UP
THE LEFT-HAND FORK."

THE MEN TOLD THE CAPTAINS,
"WE DISAGREE WITH YOU,

BUT WE ARE HAPPY TO FOLLOW YOU
WHEREVER YOU CHOOSE TO LEAD US."

THIS WAS A MARK OF CONFIDENCE
IN LEWIS AND CLARK

THAT WAS EXQUISITE.

[THUNDER]

Narrator: ON FOOT,
LEWIS AND A SCOUTING PARTY
OF 4 MEN PUSHED AHEAD.

HE KNEW THAT IF HE COULDN'T
FIND THE WATERFALL

THAT THE HIDATSAS
HAD DESCRIBED TO HIM,

THEY HAD TAKEN
THE WRONG FORK.

ON THE MORNING
OF JUNE 13,

LEWIS BEGAN HEARING
A CONSTANT ROAR IN THE DISTANCE

AND THEN ON THE HORIZON
SAW WHAT LOOKED LIKE

COLUMNS OF SMOKE
RISING FROM THE RIVER CHANNEL.

HE HURRIED FORWARD
FOR 7 MILES.

AT LAST, LEWIS REACHED
THE SOURCE OF THE NOISE
AND SPRAY

AND KNEW THAT HE AND CLARK
HAD BEEN RIGHT.

THERE BEFORE HIM,
300 YARDS WIDE, 80 FEET HIGH,

WAS THE GREAT FALLS
OF THE MISSOURI.

Meriwether Lewis: TO GAZE ON
THIS SUBLIMELY GRAND SPECTACLE

FORMS THE GRANDEST SIGHT
I EVER BEHELD.

IRREGULAR AND SOMEWHAT
PROJECTING ROCKS BELOW

RECEIVE THE WATER
IN ITS PASSAGE DOWN

AND BREAKS IT
INTO A PERFECT WHITE FOAM,

WHICH ASSUMES A THOUSAND FORMS
IN A MOMENT...

SOMETIMES FLYING UP IN JETS
OF SPARKLING FOAM

TO THE HEIGHT
OF 15 OR 20 FEET

AND ARE SCARCELY FORMED
BEFORE LARGE, ROLLING BODIES

OF THE SAME BEATEN
AND FOAMING WATER

IS THROWN OVER
AND CONCEALS THEM.

I WISHED
THAT I MIGHT BE ENABLED

TO GIVE
TO THE ENLIGHTENED WORLD

SOME JUST IDEA
OF THIS TRULY MAGNIFICENT
AND SUBLIMELY GRAND OBJECT,

WHICH HAS FROM
THE COMMENCEMENT OF TIME

BEEN CONCEALED FROM THE VIEW
OF CIVILIZED MAN.

Narrator: LEWIS SENT A MESSAGE
BACK DOWNRIVER

TELLING CLARK THAT THEY HAD MADE
THE RIGHT DECISION

AND TO BRING UP
THE REST OF THE EXPEDITION.

MEANWHILE,
HE SCOUTED AHEAD,

LOOKING FOR THE EASIEST PLACE
TO PORTAGE AROUND THE FALLS.

Duncan: AND THEN HE FINDS
THAT THERE'S ANOTHER WATERFALL

AND THEN ANOTHER AND ANOTHER.

IT'S AWFUL PRETTY, BUT IT'S NOT
GOING TO BE A HALF-DAY

GETTING AROUND THESE THINGS.

Narrator: THEY WOULD HAVE TO
PORTAGE AROUND ALL OF THEM,

18 1/2 MILES OVER ROCKY,
BROKEN GROUND

UNDER A BROILING
SUMMER SUN.

THEY BUILT CRUDE CARTS
OUT OF COTTONWOOD TREES

AND HEADED OVERLAND.

Meriwether Lewis:
THE BUFFALO HAVE TRODDEN UP
THE PRAIRIE VERY MUCH.

THE SHARP POINTS OF THE EARTH
ARE AS HARD AS FROZEN GROUND,

AND PRICKLY PEARS STAND UP
IN SUCH ABUNDANCE

THAT THERE IS
NO AVOIDING THEM.

THIS IS PARTICULARLY SEVERE
ON THE FEET OF THE MEN,

WHO HAVE NOT ONLY
THEIR OWN WEIGHT TO BEAR

IN TREADING
ON THOSE HACKLE-LIKE POINTS,

BUT HAVE ALSO THE ADDITION
OF THE BURDEN WHICH THEY DRAW.

William Clark: THE MEN HAVE TO
HAUL WITH ALL THEIR STRENGTH
AND WEIGHT AND ART...

MANY TIMES, EVERY MAN
CATCHING THE GRASS

AND KNOBS AND STONES
WITH THEIR HANDS

TO GIVE THEM MORE FORCE
IN DRAWING ON THE CANOES
AND LOADS.

Meriwether Lewis: AT EVERY HALT,
THESE POOR FELLOWS TUMBLE DOWN

AND ARE SO MUCH FATIGUED

THAT MANY OF THEM
ARE ASLEEP IN AN INSTANT.

OTHERS FAINT AND ARE UNABLE
TO STAND FOR A FEW MINUTES.

[THUNDER]

Narrator: VIOLENT STORMS
PUNCTUATED THE HEAT.

A FLASH FLOOD NEARLY DROWNED
CLARK, CHARBONNEAU,

SACAGAWEA, AND HER BABY
IN A GULLY.

ANOTHER STORM BROUGHT HAILSTONES
7 INCHES IN CIRCUMFERENCE

THAT FELL WITH SUCH FURY

THAT THE MEN
WERE KNOCKED TO THE GROUND.

William Clark:
THE PARTY RETURNED TO CAMP
IN GREAT CONFUSION,

ON THE RUN, LEAVING THEIR LOADS
IN THE PLAINS.

THE HAIL AND WIND BEING
SO LARGE AND VIOLENT

AND THEM NAKED,
THEY WERE MUCH BRUISED

AND SOME NEARLY KILLED--

ONE KNOCKED DOWN 3 TIMES,

AND OTHERS WITHOUT HATS
OR ANYTHING ON THEIR HEADS

BLOODY AND COMPLAINED
VERY MUCH.

I REFRESHED THEM
WITH A LITTLE GROG.

Meriwether Lewis:
THIS EVENING, THE MEN
REPAIRED THEIR MOCCASINS

AND PUT ON DOUBLE SOLES
TO PROTECT THEIR FEET

FROM THE PRICKLY PEARS.

SOME ARE LIMPING FROM
THE SORENESS OF THEIR FEET.

John Ordway: JULY 3.
ONE PAIR OF GOOD MOCCASINS

WILL NOT LAST MORE
THAN ABOUT TWO DAYS.

WE WEAR HOLES IN THEM
FOR THE FIRST DAY

AND PATCH THEM
FOR THE NEXT.

Narrator: AND TO THEIR
GREAT CONCERN,

SACAGAWEA HAD BECOME
SERIOUSLY ILL.

WHEN BLEEDING HER
DIDN'T WORK,

THE CAPTAINS GREW ALARMED.

THEY WERE
COUNTING ON HER HELP

IN GETTING HORSES
FROM HER PEOPLE

WHEN THEY REACHED
THE MISSOURI HEADWATERS.

LEWIS GAVE HER
DOSES OF OPIUM

AND HAD HER DRINK
FROM A SULFUR SPRING
HE HAD DISCOVERED.

FINALLY, SHE BEGAN
TO RECOVER.

IN THEIR WINTER PLANS,
THE CAPTAINS HAD ESTIMATED

IT WOULD TAKE HALF A DAY
TO GET AROUND THE FALLS.

INSTEAD, IT TOOK THEM
NEARLY A MONTH.

BY EARLY JULY,
THE DIFFICULT PORTAGE
WAS COMPLETE.

John Ordway:
JULY 4. A BEAUTIFUL,
CLEAR, PLEASANT, WARM DAY.

THE FIDDLE WAS
PUT IN ORDER,

AND THE PARTY
AMUSED THEMSELVES

DANCING ALL THE EVENING
UNTIL ABOUT 10:00

IN A CIVIL
AND JOVIAL MANNER.

IT BEING THE 4th
OF INDEPENDENCE,

WE DRANK THE LAST
OF OUR ARDENT SPIRITS.

JOHN ORDWAY.

Ambrose: YOU KNOW,
NAPOLEON SAID,

WHENEVER YOU SET OFF
ON A MARCH,

MAKE SURE YOU GOT PLENTY
OF BEER AND WINE ALONG,

ENOUGH TO LAST UNTIL YOU GET
FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM CAMP

SO THAT NOBODY CAN DESERT.

AND THAT'S BASICALLY
WHAT HAPPENED

WITH LEWIS AND CLARK.

THEY BROUGHT
ENOUGH WHISKEY ALONG

TO GET THEM THROUGH
TO THE GREAT FALLS,

AND THEN THEY RAN OUT.

THAT WAS WAY TOO LATE
FOR ANYBODY TO DESERT.

AND SO THEY CELEBRATED
PRETTY HARD.

THE MEN GOT A LITTLE TIPSY,
ACCORDING TO LEWIS.

THEY HAD A GREAT TIME.

BUT FOR THE CAPTAINS,

THEY KNOW THAT THEY'RE
BEHIND SCHEDULE,

AND YOU CAN SEE FROM THERE,
WAY OFF IN THE DISTANCE

ARE THESE MOUNTAINS
THAT ARE A LOT BIGGER

THAN ANY MOUNTAINS YOU EVER SAW
IN VIRGINIA OR NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Meriwether Lewis:
WE ALL BELIEVE THAT WE ARE NOW

ABOUT TO ENTER
ON THE MOST PERILOUS

AND DIFFICULT PART
OF OUR VOYAGE,

YET I SEE
NO ONE REPINING.

ALL APPEAR READY TO MEET

THOSE DIFFICULTIES
WHICH AWAIT US

WITH RESOLUTION
AND BECOMING FORTITUDE,

AND ALL APPEAR PERFECTLY
TO HAVE MADE UP THEIR MINDS

TO SUCCEED
IN THE EXPEDITION

OR PERISH
IN THE ATTEMPT.

Narrator: THEY WERE BACK
ON THE MISSOURI ONCE MORE,

BUT INSTEAD
OF LEADING THEM

FARTHER WEST
INTO THE MOUNTAINS,

THE RIVER NOW
TURNED SOUTH.

ON JULY 18, CLARK, YORK,
AND TWO OTHER MEN

SET OFF OVERLAND,

HOPING SOMEHOW TO FIND
THE SHOSHONES

AND THE HORSES
THEY KNEW THEY WOULD NEED

TO CROSS THE MOUNTAINS.

LEWIS TOOK CHARGE
OF THE CANOES.

Ambrose: THE SEASON'S
WEARING ON.

THE DAYS ARE STARTING
TO GET SHORTER.

EVERY TIME
HE'D LOOK TO HIS RIGHT,

THERE WERE
THOSE MOUNTAINS.

HE'S GOT TO GET ACROSS THEM
BEFORE WINTER SETS IN,

AND THE DAMN RIVER
IS GOING THE WRONG WAY.

THE RIVER IS GOING SOUTH
AND EVEN SOUTHEAST A BIT,

BUT HE'S GOT TO FOLLOW
THAT RIVER.

EVENTUALLY IT'S GOING TO
HAVE TO TURN

AND GO UP INTO THOSE MOUNTAINS,
BUT WHEN? WHERE?

Narrator: CLARK RETURNED
EMPTY-HANDED.

NO SIGN OF THE SHOSHONES.

THEN, SOUTH OF WHAT IS NOW
HELENA, MONTANA,

THE MISSOURI DIVIDED
INTO 3 TRIBUTARIES.

THE CAPTAINS
NAMED THE 3 FORKS

THE GALLATIN, THE MADISON,
AND THE JEFFERSON

AFTER TWO CABINET MEMBERS

INSTRUMENTAL
IN THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

AND "IN HONOR,"
LEWIS WROTE,

"OF THAT ILLUSTRIOUS PERSONAGE
THOMAS JEFFERSON,

THE AUTHOR
OF OUR ENTERPRISE."

THE JEFFERSON
POINTED WEST,

AND THEY FOLLOWED IT.

Duncan: BUT NOW THE RIVERS
ARE GETTING SMALLER.

THEY'RE GETTING
SHALLOWER.

IT'S HARDER
AND HARDER GOING.

THEY'RE PULLING THE CANOES
IN THE WATER

OVER ROCKS
AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

IT'S EARLY AUGUST,
LATE JULY,

AND YET THEY CAN SEE
IN THE DISTANCE

THAT IT'S SNOWING UP
IN SOME OF THE MOUNTAIN PEAKS.

THAT'S MIND-BOGGLING. I MEAN,
THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN IN VIRGINIA.

Meriwether Lewis:
AUGUST 2.

THE TOPS
OF THESE MOUNTAINS

ARE YET PARTIALLY
COVERED WITH SNOW

WHILE WE IN THE VALLEY
ARE NEARLY SUFFOCATED

WITH THE INTENSE HEAT
OF THE MIDDAY SUN.

AUGUST 3.

THE CURRENT MUCH MORE
SHALLOW THAN USUAL.

IN MANY PLACES,

THEY WERE OBLIGED
TO DOUBLE-MAN THE CANOES

AND DRAG THEM
OVER THE STONE AND GRAVEL.

AUGUST 5.

THE MEN WERE
SO MUCH FATIGUED TODAY

THAT THEY WISHED MUCH
THAT NAVIGATION WAS AT AN END,

THAT THEY MIGHT GO
BY LAND.

Narrator: NOTHING SEEMED
TO BE GOING RIGHT.

TOWROPES SNAPPED,

AND CANOES OVERTURNED
IN THE SWIFT WATER.

ONE OF THEM NEARLY CRUSHED
JOSEPH WHITEHOUSE TO DEATH

IN THE ROCKY STREAMBED.

THE JEFFERSON ITSELF FORKED
INTO SMALLER STREAMS,

CAUSING YET ANOTHER DELAY.

AND STILL
THERE WERE NO SIGNS

OF THE SHOSHONES
AND THEIR HORSES.

"IF WE DO NOT FIND THEM,"

LEWIS CONFIDED
TO HIS JOURNAL,

"I FEAR THE SUCCESSFUL ISSUE
OF OUR VOYAGE

WILL BE VERY DOUBTFUL."

THE ONLY SOLACE
CAME FROM SACAGAWEA.

UP TO THIS POINT,

THE ROUTE
THE EXPEDITION HAD TAKEN

WAS AS UNKNOWN TO HER
AS TO THE OTHER EXPLORERS,

BUT STARTING
AT THE 3 FORKS,

SHE BEGAN TO RECOGNIZE
FAMILIAR TERRITORY.

Meriwether Lewis:
THE INDIAN WOMAN

RECOGNIZED THE POINT
OF A HIGH PLAIN.

THIS HILL, SHE SAYS,
HER NATION CALLS
THE BEAVER'S HEAD.

SHE ASSURES US

THAT WE SHALL EITHER FIND
HER PEOPLE ON THIS RIVER

OR ON THE RIVER IMMEDIATELY WEST
OF ITS SOURCE,

WHICH FROM ITS PRESENT SIZE
CANNOT BE VERY DISTANT.

Ambrose: TO HAVE SACAGAWEA
SAY TO THEM,

"THAT'S THE BEAVERHEAD.

WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRAIL,"

OH, THAT LIFTED SPIRITS
WHEN SPIRITS WERE VERY LOW

AND THEY THOUGHT
THEY'D NEVER COME

TO AN END
OF THIS JOURNEY.

Narrator:
NOW IT WAS LEWIS' TURN

TO SCOUT AHEAD FOR THE SHOSHONES
AND THEIR HORSES.

Meriwether Lewis:
I DETERMINE

TO PROCEED AHEAD TOMORROW
WITH A SMALL PARTY

TO THE SOURCE
OF THIS RIVER

AND PAST THE MOUNTAINS
TO THE COLUMBIA

AND DOWN THAT RIVER
UNTIL I FIND THE INDIANS.

IT IS MY RESOLUTION
TO FIND THEM

OR SOME OTHERS
WHO HAVE HORSES

IF IT SHOULD CAUSE ME
A TRIP OF ONE MONTH.

Narrator: 3 DAYS LATER,
ON AUGUST 11,

LEWIS' ADVANCE PARTY
SAW AN INDIAN

ON HORSEBACK
IN THE DISTANCE,

THE FIRST INDIAN
THEY HAD SEEN

SINCE LEAVING
THE MANDAN VILLAGES

4 MONTHS EARLIER.

LEWIS WAS OVERJOYED
AT THE SIGHT

AND LAID DOWN HIS GUN
TO SIGNAL

THAT HIS INTENTIONS
WERE FRIENDLY.

Ambrose: LEWIS HAD HAD
THE FORESIGHT TO ASK SACAGAWEA,

"WHAT'S THE SHOSHONE WORD
FOR FRIEND?"

AND SHE SAID,
"IT'S TAB-BA-BONE."

LEWIS STRIPPED HIS SLEEVE BACK
TO SHOW THE INDIAN--

HE WAS SO SUNTANNED,
HE LOOKED LIKE AN INDIAN--

TO SHOW THE INDIAN
THAT HE WAS A WHITE MAN

AND STARTED SHOUTING,
"TAB-BA-BONE! TAB-BA-BONE!"

IT TURNS OUT THAT SACAGAWEA
HAD MISUNDERSTOOD HIM.

TAB-BA-BONE WAS
THE SHOSHONE WORD FOR STRANGER.

THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY WORD
FOR WHITE MAN.

THE INDIAN, WATCHING
THESE MEN APPROACH,

WHEELED HIS HORSE AROUND
AND DISAPPEARED,

SO LEWIS EMOTIONALLY WENT
FROM JUST EXULTATION

TO THE DEEPEST DESPAIR.

THE CHANCE
TO GET THOSE HORSES

HAD QUITE POSSIBLY PASSED
MAYBE FOREVER.

Narrator: THE NEXT DAY
WAS AUGUST 12.

THE SHIPMENT THE CAPTAINS
HAD SENT FROM FORT MANDAN

FINALLY REACHED
THE EAST COAST.

PRESIDENT JEFFERSON
WOULD HANG THE ELK ANTLERS

ON THE WALL OF HIS HOME,

PLANT THE INDIAN CORN
IN HIS MONTICELLO GARDEN,

AND SEND
THE TWO SURVIVING ANIMALS--

A MAGPIE
AND THE PRAIRIE DOG--

TO THE NATION'S PREEMINENT
NATURAL-SCIENCE MUSEUM--

INDEPENDENCE HALL
IN PHILADELPHIA,

WHERE 30 YEARS EARLIER,

JEFFERSON HAD HELPED
CREATE THE NATION

THAT NOW STRETCHED
TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

Duncan: WHAT A SYMBOL.

IN THE PLACE
WHERE THE AMERICAN NATION
HAD BEEN BORN,

IN A CAGE WAS
THIS LITTLE PRAIRIE DOG

THAT LEWIS AND CLARK
HAD SPENT AN AFTERNOON

OUT IN THE WEST

TRYING TO DROWN OUT
OF ITS HOLE

TO SEND BACK
TO THE SCIENTIST PRESIDENT.

Narrator: AS HE SIFTED
THROUGH THE SPECIMENS,

READ LEWIS' CONFIDENT LETTER
ABOUT THEIR PLANS,

AND SPREAD OUT
CLARK'S MAP

ON THE FLOOR
OF MONTICELLO,

JEFFERSON WOULD HAVE
IMAGINED THEM

ALREADY THROUGH
THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE

AND AT THE WESTERN OCEAN.

BUT THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY
WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE SEA.

INSTEAD, MERIWETHER LEWIS

WAS ABOUT TO LEARN
THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN IMAGINARY MOUNTAINS
ON A MAP

AND THE REAL THING.

Meriwether Lewis:
AUGUST 12.

THIS MORNING,
I SENT DROUILLARD OUT

AS SOON AS IT WAS LIGHT

TO TRY AND DISCOVER WHAT ROUTE
THE INDIAN HAD TAKEN.

WE EVENTUALLY FELL IN

WITH A LARGE AND PLAIN
INDIAN ROAD.

I THEREFORE
DID NOT DESPAIR

OF SHORTLY FINDING
A PASSAGE OVER THE MOUNTAINS.

Narrator: THE WELL-WORN
INDIAN TRAIL

LED DUE WEST

UP A GENTLE RISE
TOWARD A RIDGELINE.

A SMALL CREEK
RAN BESIDE IT.

Ambrose: AFTER THE INDIAN
DISAPPEARED,

LEWIS DETERMINED
TO FOLLOW HIS TRAIL

BACK TO THE VILLAGE.

HE REALLY HAD NO CHOICE
ABOUT IT.

HE HAD TO GET CONTACT
WITH THE SHOSHONES.

HE FOLLOWED THE TRACK.
IT LED HIM UP A CREEK

TILL FINALLY
HE CAME TO A SPRING,

AND WITH ALL
THE ANXIETY AND FEAR
THAT HE WAS FEELING,

HE NEVERTHELESS WAS ABLE
TO PAUSE

AND DRINK OUT
OF THAT SPRING

COMING OUT OF THE SIDE
OF THE MOUNTAIN

AND TO EXULT
THAT HE HAD REACHED

THE ULTIMATE SOURCE
OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.

Meriwether Lewis:
HUGH McNEAL STOOD

WITH A FOOT ON EACH SIDE
OF THIS LITTLE RIVULET

AND THANKED HIS GOD THAT
HE HAD LIVED TO BESTRIDE

THE MIGHTY AND HERETOFORE
DEEMED ENDLESS MISSOURI.

FARTHER UP WAS THE MOST
DISTANT FOUNTAIN

OF THE WATERS
OF THE MIGHTY MISSOURI,

IN SEARCH OF WHICH
WE HAVE SPENT

SO MANY TOILSOME DAYS
AND RESTLESS NIGHTS.

THUS FAR,
I HAD ACCOMPLISHED

ONE OF THOSE
GREAT OBJECTS

ON WHICH MY MIND
HAS BEEN UNALTERABLY FIXED

FOR MANY YEARS.

JUDGE THEN
OF THE PLEASURE I FELT

IN ALLAYING MY THIRST

FROM THIS PURE
AND ICE-COLD WATER.

Narrator: NOW LEWIS
BEGAN CLIMBING

THE REST OF THE RIDGE.

HE WAS APPROACHING
THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE,

THE SPINE
OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,

BEYOND WHICH
THE RIVERS FLOW WEST.

NO AMERICAN CITIZEN HAD
EVER BEEN THERE BEFORE.

THIS, HE BELIEVED,
WAS THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE

THAT HAD BEEN THE GOAL
OF EXPLORERS

FOR MORE THAN 300 YEARS,

THE GREAT PRIZE

WHICH THOMAS JEFFERSON
HAD SENT HIM TO FIND

AND CLAIM
FOR THE UNITED STATES.

Duncan: FROM THE TIME
THAT LEWIS HAD BEEN WORKING

IN THE WHITE HOUSE
WITH THOMAS JEFFERSON,

HE'D BEEN PREPARING
HIMSELF FOR A DAY

WHEN HE WOULD COME
TO THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE,

FIND
THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE.

HE WAS GOING TO CLIMB A RIDGE,
AND WHEN HE LOOKED OUT,

HE WOULD SEE WHAT
ALL GEOGRAPHERS HAD SAID

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SEE.

HE ANTICIPATED SEEING
IN FRONT OF HIM

WHAT WAS BEHIND HIM.

HE THOUGHT HE WOULD SEE
THE SAME THING

ON THE OTHER SIDE--

AN EASY DESCENT DOWN
TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER,

ONE DAY'S PORTAGE
OVER THIS MOUNTAIN PASS.

YOU COULD HAUL THE CANOES
ON YOUR BACK,

PUT THEM ONTO THE WATER
ON THE OTHER SIDE,

AND YOU'RE HOME FREE.

YOU COULD JUST FLOAT ON DOWN
TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

HIS HEART MUST HAVE BEEN
RACING LIKE CRAZY

BECAUSE IT'S THE SUPREME MOMENT
OF THE EXPEDITION,

AND HE WALKS UP
TO THIS RIDGE,

AND WHEN HE GOT THERE,
HE LOOKED OUT,

AND ALL HE SAW
WERE MORE MOUNTAINS.

THERE WAS JUST MOUNTAIN
AFTER MOUNTAIN

AFTER MOUNTAIN
AFTER MOUNTAIN.

Ambrose: AND WHAT HE SAW
WHEN HE TOOK

THAT FIRST STEP
OUT OF THE UNITED STATES

AND INTO UNCLAIMED
TERRITORY

BROUGHT AN END
TO A DREAM

THAT HAD BEGUN
WITH COLUMBUS,

THE DREAM OF AN ALL-WATER ROUTE
FROM EUROPE TO THE FAR EAST.

Allen: THE GEOGRAPHY
OF REALITY

AND THE GEOGRAPHY
OF HOPE

WERE CLASHING
AT THAT POINT.

IT HAS TO BE A SITUATION

IN WHICH HE FEELS
TREMENDOUS ELATION,

AS HE EXPRESSES
IN THE JOURNALS

ABOUT THANKING GOD
THAT HE'S LIVED

TO BESTRIDE
THE MIGHTY MISSOURI,

BUT TREMENDOUS
DISAPPOINTMENT

AT THE RECOGNITION
THAT HIS PRECONCEIVED IDEAS

ABOUT WHAT WAS WEST
OF THIS LAST DIVIDING RIDGE

SIMPLY WEREN'T TRUE.

Duncan: AND WHEN
HE WAS STANDING THERE

AND YOU SEE
ALL OF THOSE MOUNTAINS,

YOU KNOW THAT IT'S NOT
GOING TO BE A HALF-DAY PORTAGE.

IT'S GOING TO BE
A LOT HARDER,

AND TIME'S A-WASTING.
IT'S AUGUST,

AND IT'S ALREADY SNOWING
IN CERTAIN PLACES,

AND YOU'D BETTER
GET A MOVE ON

BECAUSE IF IT SNOWS,

THEY'RE DONE.
THEY'RE GOING TO DIE.

Narrator:
LEWIS HAD NO TIME NOW

TO CONTEMPLATE
HIS DISAPPOINTMENT.

HE DESPERATELY NEEDED
TO FIND HORSES

FOR THE EXPEDITION
TO CROSS THE DAUNTING MOUNTAINS

THAT STRETCHED OUT
BEFORE HIM.

THE SUCCESS--

PERHAPS THE VERY SURVIVAL
OF THEM ALL--

DEPENDED ON IT.