William Clark`s Map of the Lewis and Clark Trail

The Entire Trail

One of the most important products of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was the map included in the "History Of The Expedition Under The Command Of Captains Lewis And Clark, To The Sources Of The Missouri, Thence Across The Rocky Mountains And Down The River Columbia To The Pacific Ocean. Performed During The Years 1804-5-6.", which was published in 1814.

The map was compiled from William Clark's large manuscript map of the West by Samuel Lewis, a noted Philadelphia mapmaker. Between the time that Clark returned to St. Louis in 1806 and the time that the map was published in 1814, Clark received reports from later explorers of the region, notably expedition member John Colter. Information gathered during that time was included in the published map.

I want to post a few entries about the map, explaining which sections of the trail were traversed by which members of the expedition, and the time frame(s) during which each section of the trail was crossed. For starters, I simply want to post the entire trail as it appears when drawn on Google Maps, and then show how Clark's map looks after I highlighted the trail in red.