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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. By this time, Jefferson has retired to Monticello, and the new president is

2. Cut Nose planned to send two guides to the expedition to help them get to

3. Lewis felt that within ten years, Americans would

4. The Eulachon, which the Clatsops sold to the expedition were

5. Meriwether Lewis may have misused public funds by

Short Essay Questions

1. What may Lewis have been talking about when Mrs. Grinder heard him taking to himself like a lawyer?

2. Discuss Meriwether Lewis' response to the fact that some of his soldiers were planning to publish their own journals of the expedition.

3. What was Lewis' biggest failure?

4. What was the intention behind Lewis' last voyage?

5. What mistake did Lewis make with the Blackfoot Indians with whom he was trying to make a deal?

6. In what area does the author feel Lewis' greatest talents had lain?

7. Why was Lewis desperate to get some Indians to Washington?

8. As governor of the Louisiana Territory, Lewis was in over his head. How did Lewis fail in his job as governor?

9. It seems that Lewis has had a major lapse in judgment in many respects and his behavior has become erratic. What major political mistake did he make when arranging to send Big White back to the Mandans?

10. Was it justifiable for Lewis to turn his publishing project into such a huge and complex undertaking?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sacagawea was only one of Charbonneau's wives. Research and write an exploratory essay on Charbonneau:

1) Did the Charbonneau family continue to thrive in the region of the Mandan camps?

2) Are there still Charbonneau's living there now?

3) Was it a custom within the Shoshones to have two wives, or did Charbonneau think this up on his own?

Essay Topic 2

Lewis and Clark signed a detachment order in 1804 that ordered the sergeants of the group to keep their own daily journals. We know that at least two of the soldiers attempted to publish their own journals, but what became of them, and any others that were written?

Write a research essay and determine whether the lesser officers' journals were preserved and whether they were studied by historians later. If so, what are the highlights? Did they disagree with Lewis & Clark's determination regarding the Missouri vs. Marias Rivers? These would be fascinating to compare and contrast to the Captains' journals. If no information is available on them, outline where and how you researched them, and speculate as to what happened to them.

Essay Topic 3

John Coulter left the expedition to go on to explore the Yellowstone area, with Lewis' blessings.

1) What can we learn about John Coulter? Is he famous in the annals of American history for his work?

2) Did Coulter have any productive interactions with Indians in the Yellowstone country?

3) Did Coulter keep journals, and was he also a "naturalist" like Lewis?

4) Is there any recorded history of why he made such a decision?

5) What did Coulter accomplish and when/where did he die?

(see the answer keys)

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