Life in 1803• Lewis (middle class) lacked the

higher education & wealth of the upper class

• Public schools did not exist • Rich planters were often

educated by boarding with teachers-usually preachers

• Farms were far apart, men such as Lewis acquired distinct wilderness skills

• Lewis was a great horseman, hunter, and hiker

• The Middle Class was expected to know the social refinements of the rich planters

• Many like Lewis sought adventure, and joined the army as a result

Geographic Knowledge• Know Eastern U.S.• Atlantic Ocean• Appalachian Mts.• Only 4 roads over the Appalachian

Mts.• Great Lakes• Ohio & Mississippi River Systems• 6 weeks to get from the Mississippi

River to the eastern seaboard• Mouth of the Missouri River• The Great Bend of the Missouri• The Mouth of the Columbia River

Rumors of the West

• Woolly mammoths, Peruvian llamas, blue-eyed Welsh-speaking Indians

• A NW Passage• A landmass of erupting volcanoes and

mountains of undissolved salt. • unicorns, seven-foot-tall beavers, and friendly,

slim-waisted buffalo. • California is an island. • The Rocky Mountains to be narrow and

undaunting smaller than the Appalachians