FINDINGS.

SEC. 302. FINDINGS. The Congress finds that— (1) the expedition commanded by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, which came to be called “The Corps of Discovery”, was one of the most remarkable and productive scientific and military exploring expeditions in all American history; (2) President Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and Clark the mission to “explore the Missouri River & such principal stream of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river may offer the most direct and practical water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce”; (3) the Expedition, in response to President Jefferson’s directive, greatly advanced our geographical knowledge of the continent and prepared the way for the extension of the American fur trade with American Indian tribes throughout the land; (4) President Jefferson directed the explorers to take note of and carefully record the natural resources of the newly acquired territory known as Louisiana, as well as diligently report on the native inhabitants of the land; (5) the Expedition departed St. Louis, Missouri on May 14, 1804; (6) the Expedition held its first meeting with American Indians at Council Bluff near present-day Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, in August 1804, spent its first winter at Fort Mandan, North Dakota, crossed the Rocky Mountains by the mouth of the Columbia River in mid-November of that year,113 STAT. 1648 and wintered at Fort Clatsop, near the present-day city of Astoria, Oregon; (7) the Expedition returned to St. Louis, Missouri, on September 23, 1806, after a 28-month journey covering 8,000 miles during which it traversed 11 future States: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon; (8) accounts from the journals of Lewis and Clark and the detailed maps that were prepared by the Expedition enhance knowledge of the western continent and routes for commerce; (9) the Expedition significantly enhanced amicable relationships between the United States and the autonomous American Indian nations, and the friendship and respect fostered between American Indian tribes and the Expedition represents the best of diplomacy and relationships between divergent nations and cultures; and (10) the Lewis and Clark Expedition has been called the most perfect expedition of its kind in the history of the world and paved the way for the United States to become a great world power.