Lewis and Clark Expedition, The – Encyclopedia Virginia
Captain Lewis shooting an Indian.The expedition slowly ascended the Missouri River in a series of vessels ranging from small canoes to a larger keelboat. The written record has some ambiguity, but a total of fifty-one men (including Lewis and Clark) served in the expedition during this early stage. Several of these men had already made clear that they only planned to accompany the contingent part of the way. One member of the expedition, Sergeant Patrick Gass, eventually coined its most popular nickname: the Corps of Discovery. During the ascent of the Missouri, most of the expedition’s mem...
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