On May 14, 1804, members of the Lewis and Clark expedition launched their 55-foot-long keelboat and two smaller boats onto the Missouri River. Hauling camping gear, navigational tools, medical supplies and rifles, they embarked on a journey to explore lands newly acquired by the United States. Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark kept a journal in which they noted the route, weather and landscape; recorded the discovery of new plant and animal species; and documented their encounters with Native American tribes. Their account of the expedition paints a picture of what the West was like at the 19th century.
