![]() ![]() Jefferson had long dreamed of sending an expedition to the West-an idea that began, for him, around the end of the Revolutionary War. Lewis and Clark were sent on their journey by President Thomas Jefferson, a man whose reputation spanned more than being the author of the Declaration of Independence: he was also a scholar of philosophy, language, science and innovation-interests that fueled his desire to learn more about the country in his charge. ![]() ![]() "If you look all through the 19th century, they might be mentioned in a single line, even in to the 1920s and 30s, they end up getting wrapped up with the Louisiana Purchase, which is not what they were initially involved with." Barnard Chair in Western American History, emeritus at the University of Tulsa. "It really is an interesting rollercoaster, from the invisible to the iconic," explains James Ronda, the H. ![]() But our modern image of Lewis and Clark-exalted heroes of American exploration-is a fairly recent phenomenon. For nearly 150 years after their expedition, the nation almost forgot about Meriwether Lewis and William Clark completely. The legend of Lewis and Clark is today so deeply ingrained in our national memory, as the predecessors to the age of Davy Crockett and his wild frontier and to dying of dysentery on the Oregon Trail, that it's difficult to imagine a student of history not knowing about their historic journey. ![]()
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