A NOT SO OLD NATION

Recalling a Storied Trek to Parts Unknown (TIMOTHY EGAN, January 18, 2003, NY Times)

It was on Jan. 18, 1803, that Jefferson sent a confidential message to Congress asking for $2,500 for an expedition across North America. The trip began in earnest in May 1804, as the Corps ventured up the Missouri River, looking for its headwaters in the Rockies, and ended 28 months later in St. Louis, after the explorers had reached the Pacific and returned.

The basic story — a journey hatched by men of the Enlightenment who were rescued time and again by people who had never heard of the new nation on the eastern shore — continues to fascinate. Historians say more was known about the moon before Neil Armstrong touched down on the Sea of Tranquility in 1969 than was known about the land between the Mississippi and the Pacific in 1803.

When the expedition was conceived, the West was mostly French and Spanish territory, inhabited by hundreds of Indian nations. With the Louisiana Purchase later in 1803, Jefferson doubled the size of the American territory, paying $15 million to relieve Napoleon's France of what would become all or part of 13 American states.

It's easy to forget what a young nation we are and how far we've come. Manifest Destiny may have led us to secure a nation from sea to sea, but does anyone (including the protesters on the mall) think we seek more territory for ourselves? Posted by Stephen Judd at January 18, 2003 5:11 PM