Like Mother, Like Daughter

Today, I have a guest post, written by the little chica, Eve-Marie. I guess I'm just super proud of her cause she's an amazing writer, and I want to show off her article writing skillz.

I swear on the Holy Word of God that she wrote this, and literally all I did was type out what she said. (I did walk her through the process of choosing what details were most important and taught her about the structure of an article, but all the decisions were made by her. Also, some of the quotes came from a book that put drawings to journal entries of men on the trip, so they are actual quotes.)

Here it is:

Lewis and Clark See Ocean, Trade with Indians

circa early 1800's

Today, Lewis and Clark returned from the Pacific Ocean gone for almost three years. It appears that they are successful in making friends with the Indians, seeing the Pacific and discovering new animals in our territory.

They met different Indian tribes and out of the many they met, only one was mean: Teton Sioux. They traded several things with the Indians, which included beads, medals, and alcohol. What they got in return was watermelon, meat, and horses. They learned how the natives lived and learned how to burn out canoes. With these canoes, they passed through many dangerous rapids safely.

“We built dugout canoes and set out past many bad rapids between rugged rocks and cliffs up to 200 feet high,” said John Daley, spokesman for the expedition. “Determined to pass all these rapids, we kept on going and did not turn back. After all, we had a mission.”

On November 18, 1805, they reached the great Pacific. They were all overjoyed. The journey had been long and hard. They had traveled along the Missouri River, into the Bitterroot Mountains. After they crossed the Bitterroot Mountains, they were out of the Louisiana Purchase. They went into the Snake River and they followed that river until they got to the Pacific. They had been hoping to find a complete water way from Camp Wood, in Illinois, to the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the United States. They found that there was no complete water way.

When they finally reached the Pacific, they were completely overjoyed.

“As we approached, this great Pacific Ocean which we had been so long anxious to see, and the roaring noise made by the waves breaking on the rocky shores could be heard distinctly,” Daley said. “We beheld with astonishment the waves dashing against the rocks and this immense ocean. Our goal was reached at last!”

Along the way, Lewis and Clark discovered different animals and plants that hadn’t been seen before. Among them were snow goose, passenger pigeon, and bitterroot flowers. They drew pictures of some animals, and they captured others. They picked plants, and did all of these to report back to President Thomas Jefferson, who sent them out.