Lewis was born on August 18, 1774. He was a friend of Tomas Jefferson.
Lewis was a young Army Caption and got a letter Tomas Jefferson ( who was about to become president)
It was offering him the job of his secretary-aide.
When is said "knolege of the Western country" hinted Jefferson was planning an expedition to explore the West and decided that Lewis would be the commander
On February 28 1803 Congress funded the Expedition to the West
Clark Accepted the offer to go West with Lewis
Lewis and Clark where the leaders of the expedition to explore the west area of the Mississippi River
There job was to learn as much as they can about the territory. They kept journals of everything they saw.
Observed over 178 plants and 122 animals Produced lots of literature about the west Drew attention to discovering the west Encouraged fur trading with Indians