Notes Continued Louis and Clarks expedition was to explore the west and also to satisfy Jefferson s curiosity During this time Jefferson also writes a book called Notes on the State of Virginia it was his thought out what was out west and it was written when he was bed ridden after falling off his horse The book was about some of Virginia but mostly things out west he believes that Dinosaurs could still live out there and that new crops could be grow out there in the west Also thought there was a water way that connected the Pacific to the Atlantic and a water Early explores thought that there was a water way called the Northwest Waterway and it The American Whaling Boat named Columbus thought they found the river and called it route that went through out the US ran though out the US Columbus River and it was near Ohio When the Louisiana Purchase was complete Jefferson was able to explore his theories of the west In November 1803 the Louisiana Purchase was completed it was purchased by 15 million and it came out to be 13 cents an acre When the purchase was complete it doubled the size of the US Jefferson wants to push farther and claim the land on the Pacific coast and he needed to because the British and the Russian have already had a head start for them The explorer James Cook had already claimed some of the land for Britain and Alex Mackenzie also explored most of the land in the Pacific Northwest Meriwether Lewis and William Clarke o Jefferson put money aside for expeditions of the west o Lewis was like a godson of Jefferson and his family lived close to Jefferson o Jefferson and Lewis were very close throughout life he was chief of staff o Clarke was picked because he was one of Lewis s best friend o The expedition was called the Corps of Discovery o Jefferson sent Lewis to the top researches of plants and animals of the time to prepare him to detail everything on the trip o Jefferson told them to go into the territory and learn everything you can he also gave them Peace Medallions to give to and Indians make peace with them and place a flag on the Pacific coast and claim it for the US o Most of the people that went along with Lewis and Clarke were US soldiers French fur trappers Clarke s slave and a fur traders wife Sakawagewea o The expedition went very well in 1803 and it lasted to 1805 it began in Missouri and went west o The group has hard times in Idaho because of the Mountain Ranges and had trouble with Indians the only thing that saved them from the Indians was that Sakawagewea s brother was the leader of the raiding Indian troop o In 1814 both diaries of Lewis and Clarke were published and were used as guides o This is also the first time the government founded a group to explore the west and to moving out west it was a great success for them o When Lewis and Clarke got back Clarke adopts Sakawagewea s son and he becomes the governor of the of a town Lewis kills himself after this in west Tennessee because he suffered from depression o Jefferson had other expeditions going into the west during the same time as Lewis and Clarke one was Zebulon Pike o Zebulon Pike was the army pay officer and he thought he could do something better and he went to Jefferson and ask if he could lead another expedition to explore the southern part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1807 o Pike explored things and named things after himself along the way he got his group lost and were captured by the Spanish o They were taken back to the US territory but before this they were taken to Santa Fe New Mexico o They saw that Santa Fe was not being supplied from Mexico and the residents ask for the US for help and he return and tells the people o Traders then start taking supplies to them and form the Santa Fe Trail and the traders make a killing in the profits because the people needed everything they were bring to them Mountain Men o The first people that took advantage of the new purchase were the fur traders o In addition to Lewis and Clarke and Pike these mountain men told and explored o They knew the land better than most people and fur trading was a big deal during o Most of the towns that pop up in the new land were fur trading post like Albany o The French are the first to get into the fur trade the first things that were traded most of the west this time New York and others with the beaver and bear fur o Buffalo Sea Otter and Minks were later wanted with the expansion to the west o The one thing American do different the other countries were to get their hands dirty by going out and trapping the animals and getting their furs the others in the time would pay Indian tribes to get the furs o With the other groups paying for Indians problems occurred with the Indians social culture and lead to fights and trading difficulty o The most well know British trading company was the Hudson Bay Company o The HBC traded around the Hudson Bay in Canada 10 months out of the year the bay was closed because the bay was iced over and Indian tribes would travel there to trade their furs for goods