Lewis and Clark Trail Articles
Lewis and Clark Route
1803–1806: Pittsburgh to Fort Clatsop and return to St. Louis
Archived: 2025
Several researchers have contributed to the making of this Lewis and Clark Trail center line—an approximation of the route the Expedition followed in 1803–1806. Very roughly, the Ohio River section was created by Kristopher K. Townsend, the Missouri River by James D. Harlan, the Bitterroot Crossing by Steve F. Russell, and Clark on the Yellowstone […]
Lewis and Clark Trail Inventory: Kansas
Signs, Statues, and Markers
Archived: 2019
This page is an inventory of sites commemorating the Lewis and Clark journey in the present state of Kansas. In late June 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition entered what is now Kansas camping at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers. From there, the Missouri River essentially forms the border between Kansas and […]
Lewis and Clark Trail Inventory: Missouri
Signs, Statues, and Markers
Archived: 2019
This page is an inventory of sites commemorating the Lewis and Clark journey in the present state of Missouri. In November 1803, the Lewis and Clark Expedition first entered what is now Missouri on an excursion from their camp at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. That winter, they established Camp River Dubois […]
Lewis and Clark Trail Inventory: Montana
Signs, Statues, and Markers
Archived: 2019
This page is an inventory of sites commemorating the Lewis and Clark journey in the present state of Montana. In late April 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition first entered Montana after leaving the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. They would spend the summer towing their boats up the Missouri, portaging the dugouts […]
Lewis and Clark Trail Inventory: North Dakota
Signs, Statues, and Markers
Archived: 2019
This page is an inventory of sites commemorating the Lewis and Clark journey in the present state of North Dakota. In mid-October 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition entered North Dakota camping near Beaver Creek above Fort Yates. North of Bismarck, they would spend the winter at the Knife River Villages. In April 1805, they […]
Lewis and Clark Trail Inventory: Nebraska and Iowa
Signs, Statues, and Markers
Archived: 2019
This page is an inventory of sites commemorating the Lewis and Clark journey in the present states of Nebraska and Iowa. In mid-July 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped near Nemaha, Nebraska. They continued up the Missouri River along the Nebraska-Iowa border and then the South Dakota-Nebraska border. They returned on their way home […]
Lewis and Clark Trail Inventory: Oregon and Washington
Signs, Statues, and Markers
Archived: 2019
This page is an inventory of sites commemorating the Lewis and Clark journey in the present states of Oregon and Washington. On October 10, 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition first arrived in Washington at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers. They continued down the Snake to the Columbia River, and then down […]
Lewis and Clark Trail Inventory: South Dakota
Signs, Statues, and Markers
Archived: 2019
This page is an inventory of sites commemorating the Lewis and Clark journey in the present state of South Dakota. In the late summer of 1804, the Lewis and Clark flotilla went up the Missouri River—first along the Nebraska-South Dakota border and then north across South Dakota. They passed this way again on their return […]
Lewis and Clark Trail Inventory: Idaho
Signs, Statues, and Markers
Archived: 2019
This page is an inventory of sites commemorating the Lewis and Clark journey in the present state of Idaho. In 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition entered what is now Idaho via Lemhi Pass. They headed north along the Lemhi River leaving the state above Salmon, Idaho. They returned to Idaho at the summit of […]
Mullan’s 1861 Lewis and Clark Speech
Archived: 2015
On Christmas eve or day 1861, John Mullan gave what is said to be the first public lecture in Montana. It was the largest crowd ever assembled at Fort Owen, and his topic was Lewis and Clark. The speech shows the prevailing attitudes about Lewis and Clark 55 years after the their Expedition.