Explore Lewis and Clark's 8,000-mile journey in Google Earth.

The Corps of Discovery departed St. Louis in May 1804 and returned in September 1806, covering more than 8,000 miles by boat, horseback, and on foot. See a timeline of the journey’s key events.

Combining science, diplomacy, and logistics, the Corps of Discovery created a model for later expeditions—from charting the Arctic to NASA’s space missions.

Beyond seeking a water route to the Pacific, Jefferson tasked the Corps of Discovery with mapping the new Louisiana Territory, cataloging its resources, and establishing trade with Native nations.

For centuries, leaders pursued a direct seafaring trade route from Europe to Asia. Jefferson joined this quest by sending Lewis and Clark west, though they confirmed no such practical interior route existed across the continent.

Along their 8,000-mile trek through territory populated by tribes suspicious of their intentions, Lewis and Clark’s party faced many dangers—including grizzly bear attacks, freezing winters, treacherous river crossings, and periods of near-starvation. Watch a 30-minute elaboration of their heroic efforts here.

Lewis and Clark logged daily temperature, weather, and seasonal patterns throughout their journey, creating the earliest systematic meteorological record for the western territories of the United States. Their observations helped overturn longstanding views that weather west of the Appalachians was similar to the East Coast.

Covering over 8,000 miles, William Clark’s maps charted rivers, mountains, and tribal territories with remarkable accuracy. Equipped with sextants, compasses, telescopes, and more, Clark became an expert at surveying—requiring extensive celestial and topographical observations each day.

Lewis and Clark’s botanical records introduced species to Americans like bitterroot, ponderosa pine, and Oregon grape—plants unknown to western science at the time. See a selection of these species in this image gallery.

This podcast traces the 19th-century exploration of the Great Plains' biodiversity—beginning with Lewis and Clark's wildlife cataloging and continuing through a century of documenting the Natural West's remarkable species and landscapes.

The Corps of Discovery’s diplomacy ranged from peaceful trade and vital aid from tribes like the Shoshone and Nez Perce to tense standoffs, most notably with the Teton Sioux, who nearly brought the expedition to a halt.

In January of 1803, the president sought $2,500 to fund the expedition (though it likely cost closer to $50,000). The ostensible rationale for the journey was to explore the newly purchased territory, but Jefferson did not mention he wanted Lewis and Clark to go beyond the newly acquired territory for several reasons.

Tribal historians recount their peoples' histories and perspectives on the Lewis and Clark expedition, offering an Indigenous narrative of the lands, encounters, and legacies that shaped the journey.

Maintained by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the American Journeys collection contains more than 18,000 pages of primary source documents—journals, letters, maps, and accounts written between roughly 1000 CE and the early 1800s. These include eyewitness records of the Norse arrival in North America, Spanish conquistador expeditions, and the Lewis and Clark journey. Browse this list of highlights where pages from the original texts are specified (clicking a link opens a PDF).

Hailing from Jefferson’s Albemarle County neighborhood in Virginia, Lewis was a trusted aide and former Army officer. After leading the Corps of Discovery, he became Louisiana Territory governor in 1806, dying three years later under mysterious circumstances.

Meriwether Lewis was accompanied by his dog, Seaman, a Newfoundland who traveled the entire journey—helping hunt, guarding camp, and even rescuing supplies from a river.

Over 45 days and 660 miles, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter identified more than 50 species in what was the first botanical survey of the region. Expected to help navigate boats and cook for the crew during the day, their work was confined to before dawn and after dusk.

York, Clark’s enslaved servant, played a full role in the expedition—hunting, scouting, and aiding diplomacy with Native nations who were fascinated by his appearance. Despite his contributions, York remained enslaved for some time after the journey, though its uncertain if he remained so for the rest of his life. Explore every member of the Corps of Discovery here.

They offered peace medals, beads, cloth, and mirrors, while receiving food, horses, furs, and guidance that helped them navigate and survive the western wilderness. This image collection showcases items the expedition collected.

Trained as a surveyor, Washington routinely studied, annotated, and drew maps throughout his life. He relied on cartography to navigate frontier lands, plan military campaigns across vast distances, and make strategic decisions on borders, settlement, and governance.

Long before GPS, biologist John Cely mapped the swampy terrain of South Carolina's Congaree National Park by hand, and mostly from memory. The map was so accurate, it became the preferred resource for the park's rangers. This Atlas Obscura article explores how Cely acquainted himself with the park's particulars and how the map grew from an unofficial peculiarity into the park's definitive guide.

Expanding its mission to map the world, Google Maps partnered with The Catlin Seaview Survey to introduce the first-ever underwater panoramas, making oceanic marvels like the Great Barrier Reef accessible to everyone. With Google Maps, the public...

Acquired from France for $15M, the Louisiana Purchase added 828,000 square miles to the United States—stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rockies. US ambassadors in France signed the papers to buy the tract from the embattled Napoleon Bonaparte for a mere $15M before Jefferson learned the terms, due to the advantageous nature of the deal.

Landforms are not just scenic vistas; they are geological storytellers that shape ecosystems, climates, and our understanding of Earth's history. In this comprehensive look at landforms from the National Park Service, you will learn not only about different types of American landforms, but you will understand how these geological features are shaped by various forces, how they reveal an area's geological history, and how they influence climate and ecology.

Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan left Spain on a trip to gather spices and circumnavigate the globe with five ships, more than 250 men, outdated maps, and a profound misunderstanding of the Pacific Ocean's width. Hear from a historian on...

Thanks to Google Maps’ Street View feature, people can virtually explore the Amazon River basin and its surroundings—part of the Amazon rainforest that is under the protection of the Brazilian government with restricted access to the public. The...

Explore some of the world’s deserts in this “Natural Treasures” collaboration between Google Earth and BBC Earth. Visit the Namib Desert in Namibia where the simplest strategy to escape the heat is to emerge only in the cool of the night....

The group hired French-Canadian trader Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife Sacagawea to serve as translators. Sacagawea became invaluable to the Corps, as she could speak Shoshone and had a familiarity with the geography of the region. Acting as interpreter and cultural bridge, Sacagawea helped secure Shoshone horses, identified key landmarks, and signaled peaceful intent to other tribes.

Centuries of maps include islands and isles that appear to only exist on atlases. This article explores the discovery and "undiscovery" of such landscapes, which still persist despite modern technology. As recently as 2012, Google Maps showed an...

Using archeological, genetic, and climate data, scientists have pieced together an outline of the human odyssey—the journey that took our species from Africa to all corners of the globe. Experience this 200,000-year migration using an interactive human migration map.

Glacier National Park is home to over one million acres of natural beauty, but it also includes 52 miles of a manmade miracle in Going-to-the-Sun Road, which takes drivers on a majestic tour through some of the park's most breathtaking views. This brief history and photo gallery allows you to gain an appreciation for the incredible engineering behind the road’s construction.

In this interactive, users can apply layers to various base maps to display natural and human features, including geological activity, biomes, ocean currents, population densities, and light pollution. Custom legends, markers, and drawings can be used to highlight prominent features.

The US has conducted the most missions (23) and has the highest success rate (74%), followed by Russia (18 missions at 5%). The first successful orbiter was Mariner 4, while Viking 1 was the first successful lander.

This interactive map visualizes Indigenous territories across the world. Users can search by location, language, or tribe to explore the histories, cultures, and present-day communities connected to specific lands.

This infographic leads users through the entire Voyager mission timeline, starting at its conception and moving through launch, to each destination, and finally, the Voyagers' crossing into interstellar space.

The panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. You can peruse a gallery of almost 2,000 of them in this digital archive from the Library...

The long expanse of Pacific coast north of the US border includes Victoria, Vancouver Island, the Great Bear Rainforest, fjords, whale watching, and 50 First Nations that manage the coastline. This site presents the region in an engaging interactive format to attract travelers looking for lesser-known areas of natural beauty.

The American Museum of Natural History hosts almost 35,000 digitized folios related to evolution within the fields of botany and zoology from Darwin's Beagle voyage. High-resolution color images, geological findings, and annotated books from Darwin's personal library are also viewable.

Explore key moments in Earth’s transformative history as continents drift and climate fluctuates over 4.6 billion years. The Smithsonian presents a series of interactive snapshots of the earth. From its toddler years during the Hadean period, when its surface was mostly molten, to the mostly unidentifiable landmasses of the future earth, 100 million years from now.