Taylor Walters - April 13, 2026: Lewis and Clark (In-Class Entry)

In class we discussed the Lewis and Clark expedition in the context of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. I knew the basic story but I'd never really thought about how it relates to the environment. Lewis and Clark followed the Missouri River west looking for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. They encountered the Continental Divide, which we talked about in class as the line that separates water flowing to the Pacific from water flowing to the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean. They were basically mapping the water system of an entire continent, all while looking for passage to the Pacific Ocean! During class I was thinking about how differently Indigenous nations interpreted those same waterways, because while Lewis and Clark were finding routes for expansion, the Native peoples had developed spiritual relationships with the rivers over many years.

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