541 - Fort Mandan

Where did the Lewis and Clark expedition really start? It's still being debated today. Was it in Washington, D.C. with President Jefferson? Did it begin in St. Louis, where the crew first got together? Or was it at Fort Mandan, where the permanent party, including Toussaint Charbonneau, Sakakawea and their son Jean Baptiste, traveled into the vast expanse of the unknown?

Up to this point, Lewis and Clark had a pretty good idea of what they would encounter from the reports of other Euro American travelers who had been in the area, but they had very little idea of what lay ahead. Meriwether Lewis, however, was optimistic as they left Fort Mandan. Their stay at the fort had revitalized him for the journey ahead. In his journal on April 7, 1805, Lewis wrote, "I could but esteem this moment of our departure as among the most happy of my life. The party are in excellent health and spirits zealously attached to the enterprise and anxious to proceed. Not a whisper or murmur of discontent to be heard among them, but all act in unison and with the most perfect harmony."