The Things the Corps Carried

Abstract The Things the Corps Carried: The Logistics and Planning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Joshua R. Wagner M.A., American Studies; December 2019 The Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg Charles Kupfer, Ph.D., First Reader How do you plan for a plan for a trip to place for which there is no map and where no American had ever traveled before? This is the question Meriwether Lewis had to answer in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson tasked him to lead an exploratory expedition of the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. Lewis prepared for a journey that would take three years and cover nearly 10,000 miles. His mission included three directives: find the source of the Missouri River and if possible an all water route to the Pacific Ocean, establish friendly relations with the Natives, and collect and observe flora and fauna. There is a historical debate as to what made the success of the expedition possible. This hypothesis of this project is that the success was due to the logistical prowess of Meriwether Lewis and his preparation team. Historical analysis is used to demonstrate how events in Lewis’ life prepared him for the planning. Primary sources demonstrate how the logistical choices made by Lewis in the spring and summer of 1803 paid dividends during the expedition.

Files

Metadata

Work Title The Things the Corps Carried
Subtitle The Logistics and Planning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Access
Penn State
Creators
  1. Joshua R. Wagner
Keyword
  1. Logistics; Lewis and Clark
License All rights reserved
Work Type Masters Thesis
Deposited November 13, 2019

Versions

Analytics

Collections

This resource is currently not in any collection.

Work History

Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added The_Things_the_Corps_Carried_pdf.pdf
  • Added Creator Joshua R. Wagner
  • Published
  • Updated