Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
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Volcanoguy
N 46° 14.949 W 123° 51.630
10T E 433669 N 5122090
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail sign at Washington State’s Dismal Nitch Safety Rest Area.
Waymark Code: WM11NJ
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 12/16/2006
Views: 42
This is one four signs located toward western end of Washington State’s Dismal Nitch Safety Rest Area.
Marker Name: Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
Marker Text: Jefferson’s Vision
Like many others in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, President Thomas Jefferson sought the fabled Northwest Passage. He dreamed of finding a series of rivers that would cross the western mountains and make direct trade possible with Asia. Jefferson aspired to shape the destiny of the country by establishing this route for trade and commerce. In 1803, he directed Meriweather Lewis to lead an expedition across the continent to find a route to the Pacific Ocean.
”the object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it’s course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean . . . may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce.” - Thomas Jefferson to Captain Meriwether Lewis, June 20, 1803
”my friend . . . If therefore there is anything . . . in this interprise, which would induce you to participate with me in it’s fatiegues, it’s dangers and it’s honors, believe me there is no man on earth with whom I should feel equal pleasure in sharing them as with yourself” - Meriweather Lewis to William Clark, June 19, 1803
President Jefferson directed Meriwether Lewis to organize, equip, and lead an expedition to explore the West and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis chose his trusted friend William Clark to join him as co-leader.
In 1804-1806, captains Lewis and Clark led the Corps of Discovery - a party of soldiers, civilians, and interpreters - on an epic journey. They traveled through the newly purchased Louisiana Territory, over the Rocky Mountains, to the shores of the Pacific and back. Along the way, the explorers mapped the land and recorded its resources. They encountered and traded with many American Indian tribes.
The landscape has changed since Lewis and Clark explored it. Rivers have been dammed, forest logged, prairies plowed, and roads built. Remnants of wilderness still exist, but much has been altered. As you journey along the Lewis and Clark Trail, try to imagine this land as the Corps of Discovery experienced it.