Beginning of Essay
The expedition across the present day United States began May 14, 1804. With the approval of President Jefferson and the U.S. Congress, gathered an exploration party of about four dozen men. These men headed off to discover Western America. On September 1, 1805, ....

Middle of Essay
.... danger of slipping to their certain distruction and up and down steep hills…" (De Voto 232). Traveling along the steep hills, several horses fell. One was crippled, and two gave out. Patrick Gass described the trip that day as, "…the worst road (If road it can be called) that was ever traveled" (MacGregor 125). To make conditions even worse, it rained that afternoon, which made the trail even more treacherous. The party was only able to travel five miles that day. On September 3, snow fell and the team’s last thermometer broke. Several more horsed slipped and injured themselves. Later that day, the snow turned into sleet. The ....