

PROPERTY FROM GALLISON HALL, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA: THE JAMES F. SCOTT COLLECTION
The expedition was funded by Congress for the purpose of establishing trading ties with the Indians of the western region. Besides accomplishing this goal, the explorers greatly broadened the geographical knowledge of the West, and demonstrated the feasibility of transcontinental travel. The expedition made its way from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back between spring 1804 and fall 1806. A number of circumstances, including their appointment to official positions in the new Louisiana Territory and Lewis's mysterious death, conspired to delay the publication of the official narrative of their travels for eight years. The American edition was compiled from the Lewis and Clark journals by Paul Allen and contains a prefatory "Life of Captain Lewis" by Thomas Jefferson.