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Lewis and Clark embarked on the ultimate adventure as they explored the American West and its then-untamed lands. Their travels became legend, as their stories were told and re-told through the ages. Schoolchildren today learn of how a grizzly bear chased Lewis in the river, of how their men endured starvation while crossing the Rocky Mountains and delighted in the salmon that choked river streams in present-day Oregon and Washington.
An important part of the Corps’ journey is the astonishing number of plants and animals discovered for Western science. Lewis gathered horns, bones, hides and bird skins of these new discoveries. He collected specimens of plants, documenting where he found them and what they looked like. His notes gave life to these discoveries, providing an insight into these abundant landscapes. In the end, the Corps gave Americans their first account of 122 animals and 178 plants and trees.
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In Their Own Words... |
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Study “the animals of the country, & especially those not known in the U.S. … the dates at which particular plants put forth or lose their flower, or leaf, times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles, or insects."
~ President Thomas Jefferson’s official orders for the expedition | | These many accounts, from the individual species to the lands they inhabited, provide a biological snapshot of a region teeming with life. Its abundant biodiversity is remarkable and — today — difficult to imagine: bison numbering 70 million, more than a million greater prairie chickens, between 40 and 100 million pronghorn and black-tailed prairie dogs believed to be 5 billion strong.
As this land was settled, its prairies were plowed and its expansive landscapes divided. Lewis and Clark’s journals help us understand how we’ve changed this land and why it is important to preserve and protect the great places that remain. | 
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