Lewis and Clark Trail Overview

In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and the "Oregon Country."

Setting out in boats from what is today Wood River, Illinois, and following the Missouri River upstream, their expedition eventually reached the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1805, and they returned east the next year. In Idaho and western Montana, the route follows roads and trails as it crosses the Rocky Mountain passes.