In the spring of 1803, President Thomas Jefferson set in motion an expedition to explore a portion of the recently acquired Louisiana Purchase, 530 million acres that stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. It was a region that was virtually unknown to anyone other than the thousands of Native Americans who lived there, but for Jefferson and the young United States government, it was a region with unlimited potential and promise. One year later, under the command of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, 45 hand-picked men set off on an epic journey that crossed the Rocky Mountains and continued to the Pacific Ocean. When they returned almost two and a half years later, they had established relations with dozens of Native American nations, encountered new species of plants and animals, and brought back a wealth of scientific knowledge. This course will look at the preparation, planning, and impact of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, a remarkable adventure that fired the imagination of a young nation and is still regarded as one of the most ambitious and successful government expeditions ever attempted.