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Explorers
Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806)
 Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and Pomp

Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and Pomp
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 8 to 9
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.71

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    expedition, bighorn, camped, fierce, loomed, route, riches, continent, anniversary, journey, steep, supplies, guide, explore, trade, establish
     content words:    President Jefferson, Captain Meriwether Lewis, Captain Lewis, Lieutenant William Clark, European Americans, Native American Indians, Shoshone Indian, Jean Baptiste, Pacific Ocean, Native Americans

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Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and Pomp
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     President Jefferson chose Captain Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition. Captain Lewis chose Lieutenant William Clark to help him lead the expedition. Along the way they recruited other European Americans, traders or trappers, and also Native American Indians to take part in the expedition. The most famous of these was the Shoshone Indian teenager, Sacagawea. Sacagawea had a baby just before the expedition began, and the baby, named Jean Baptiste, made the journey too. Jean Baptiste was nicknamed Pomp.
 
2     The main purpose of the expedition was to find a water route across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. This was not a new idea; others had tried before to find shorter routes across America to the Pacific. Earlier expeditions had often involved fierce and violent battles with the Native Americans. Also earlier expeditions were often a way to search for riches, and often these treasures were just stolen from their owners. Lewis and Clark's expedition was a little different. In fact, another purpose of their expedition was to establish friendly relationships and set up trade with Indian nations. Taking Sacagawea along turned out to make a big difference too.
 
3     Lewis and Clark began their expedition in 1804 with a winter camp at St. Charles, near St. Louis, Missouri. There they got their supplies ready as they waited for their boats to be completed. Their second winter they camped at Fort Mandan, home of the Mandan Indians. This is where Sacagawea joined the expedition. They traveled through the Louisiana Purchase, which had belonged to France, and through the Great Plains. One of the explorers described the Great Plains as being flat as far as the eye could see, without a single tree. In the West, there was wildlife everywhere they looked: deer, elk, buffalo, antelopes, grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, wolves, coyotes, eagles, geese, and more.

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