When Captains Lewis and Clark began their Epedition of Discovery in 1803, they carried instructions from President Thomas Jefferson to learn about the American natives they met along the way. From St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back again, the Corps of Discovery encountered Indian Nations and tribes previously unknown to them.
There were new things to learn everyday, both for Jeferson's men and the many different peoples that had settled the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Columbia River Basin.