路易斯和克拉克远征(1804～1806年)

Lewis and Clark Expedition

美国首次横越大陆抵太平洋沿岸的往返远征考察活动，领队为路易斯和克拉克。由杰佛逊总统发起，目的是寻找一条横越大陆通向太平洋的路线，通过新的路易斯安那购地计画记录下了这次考察活动。大约有四十名精通各行各业的能手於1804年离开圣路易斯。他们溯密苏里河而上，抵达现在的北达科他州，在那里修筑了曼丹堡（後来的俾斯麦），在曼丹苏人中过冬。翌年春离开，雇用了夏博诺和他的印第安妻子萨卡加维亚作向导和翻译。他们穿过蒙大拿州後，骑马越过大陆分水岭而来到克利尔沃特河的源头。他们自制木舟，顺流而下，进入蛇河，抵达哥伦比亚河口，在那边建克莱索普堡（後来的奥瑞冈州的阿斯特）越冬。该团体解散後又重新聚集，乘独木舟顺密苏里河而下到达圣路易斯，1806年抵达时受到热烈欢迎。远征路上只有一名成员死亡。路易斯和其他人的日志记录了印第安人的部落、野生动植物和地理资讯，大大消除了人们对於这条通向太平洋的便捷水路所怀的神秘感。

English version：

1804～1806年

Lewis and Clark Expedition

First overland expedition to the U.S. Pacific coast and back, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Initiated by Pres. Thomas Jefferson, the expedition set out to find an overland route to the Pacific, documenting its exploration through the new Louisiana Purchase. About 40 men, skilled in various trades, left St. Louis in 1804. They traveled up the Missouri River into present-day North Dakota, where they built Fort Mandan (later Bismarck) and wintered among the Mandan Sioux. They left the next spring, hiring Toussaint Charbonneau and his Indian wife, Sacagawea, who served as guide and interpreter. They traveled through Montana and by horse over the Continental Divide to the headwaters of the Clearwater River. They built canoes to carry them to the Snake River and thence to the mouth of the Columbia River, where they built Fort Clatsop (later Astoria, Ore.) and wintered over. After the group divided, then reunited to canoe down the Missouri to St. Louis, arriving to great acclaim in September 1806. Only one member had died. The journals kept by Lewis and others documented the Indian tribes, wildlife, and geography and did much to dispel the myth of an easy water route to the Pacific.