Lewis and Clark timeline
Every key date of the Lewis and Clark expedition, from Jefferson’s secret message to Congress in January 1803 to the Corps’ return to St. Louis on 23 September 1806. Each one links to the chapter that tells the story.
1803
- 18 January
- Jefferson secretly asks Congress for $2,500 to send a small party up the Missouri River to the Pacific. (Chapter 1)
- 19–20 June
- Lewis invites William Clark to share the command; Jefferson gives Lewis his written orders. (Chapter 1)
- 4 July
- The news is announced in Washington: France has sold Louisiana to the United States. (Chapter 1)
- 31 August
- Lewis sets off down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh in the new keelboat. (Chapter 1)
- December
- The Corps builds Camp Dubois, its winter camp near the mouth of the Missouri. (Chapter 2)
1804
- 9–10 March
- Three Flags Day in St. Louis: Upper Louisiana passes from Spain to France to the United States. (Chapter 2)
- 14 May
- The Corps sets out up the Missouri from Camp Dubois. (Chapter 2)
- 3 August
- The first council with the Oto and Missouria, at Council Bluff. (Chapter 3)
- 20 August
- Sergeant Charles Floyd dies, the only member of the Corps to die on the journey. (Chapter 4)
- Late August–September
- On the Great Plains: buffalo, pronghorn and prairie dogs, and George Shannon lost for sixteen days. (Chapter 5)
- 25 September
- A standoff with the Lakota at the mouth of the Bad River. (Chapter 6)
- 24–26 October
- The Corps reaches the Mandan and Hidatsa villages. (Chapter 7)
- 4 November
- Toussaint Charbonneau is hired as an interpreter, and Sacagawea comes too. (Chapter 7)
- November
- Fort Mandan is built for the winter. (Chapter 7)
1805
- 11 February
- Sacagawea’s son, Jean Baptiste, is born at Fort Mandan. (Chapter 8)
- 7 April
- The keelboat goes back downriver with gifts for Jefferson, and the Corps heads west. (Chapter 9)
- 26 April
- The mouth of the Yellowstone River. (Chapter 10)
- 14 May
- Six hunters chased by a grizzly; that evening Sacagawea saves the journals when the white pirogue nearly capsizes. (Chapter 11)
- 26 May
- Lewis sees the Rocky Mountains for the first time. (Chapter 11)
- 3 June
- At the fork with the Marias River, the captains choose the south branch, and they are right. (Chapter 12)
- 13 June
- Lewis reaches the Great Falls of the Missouri. (Chapter 13)
- 21 June–9 July
- The long carry of boats and baggage around the falls. (Chapter 13)
- 27 July
- The Three Forks of the Missouri, where Sacagawea was captured as a girl. (Chapter 14)
- 8 August
- Sacagawea recognises Beaverhead Rock. (Chapter 14)
- 12 August
- Lewis crosses the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass. (Chapter 15)
- 17 August
- The Shoshone chief Cameahwait turns out to be Sacagawea’s brother. (Chapter 16)
- 11–22 September
- The starving crossing of the Bitterroot Mountains on the Lolo Trail. (Chapter 17)
- 22 September
- The Nez Perce take in the starving Corps at Weippe Prairie. (Chapter 18)
- 7 October
- New dugout canoes are launched on the Clearwater River. (Chapter 18)
- 16 October
- The Corps reaches the Columbia River. (Chapter 19)
- 7 November
- Clark writes “Ocian in view! O! the joy.” (Chapter 20)
- 24 November
- Everyone votes on where to spend the winter, York and Sacagawea included. (Chapter 21)
- 24 December
- The Corps moves into Fort Clatsop. (Chapter 22)
1806
- January
- A whale washes up near present-day Cannon Beach, and Clark and Sacagawea go to see it. (Chapter 23)
- 23 March
- The Corps leaves Fort Clatsop for home. (Chapter 24)
- 11 April
- Lewis’s dog, Seaman, is stolen, and got back. (Chapter 24)
- May–June
- A month with the Nez Perce at Camp Chopunnish, waiting for the snow to melt. (Chapter 25)
- 3 July
- The Corps splits in two at Travelers’ Rest. (Chapter 26)
- 25 July
- Clark carves his name on Pompeys Pillar. (Chapter 26)
- 27 July
- Lewis’s party fights a band of Piegan Blackfeet on the Two Medicine River. (Chapter 27)
- 11 August
- Pierre Cruzatte shoots Lewis by mistake. (Chapter 28)
- 12 August
- The two parties meet again on the Missouri. (Chapter 28)
- 17 August
- Farewell to Sacagawea, Charbonneau and their son at the Mandan villages. (Chapter 29)
- 23 September
- The Corps reaches St. Louis. (Chapter 30)
Afterwards
- 1807
- Patrick Gass publishes the first journal of the expedition. (Chapter 31)
- 11 October 1809
- Meriwether Lewis dies at Grinder’s Stand, Tennessee. (Chapter 31)
- December 1812
- Sacagawea’s death is recorded at Fort Manuel, a trading post on the Missouri. (Chapter 31)
- 1814
- The official account is published, with Clark’s map of the West. (Chapter 31)
- 1838
- William Clark dies in St. Louis. (Chapter 31)
- 1904–05
- The journals are printed in full, exactly as they were written. (Chapter 31)
More about the expedition: Summary, chapter by chapter · The route · Who was on the expedition · Sacagawea · What they discovered