Once he was named by President Thomas Jefferson to head the Corps of Discovery, Meriwether Lewis began preparations for the long trip ahead. Much of that preparation involved education; in the months prior to his departure, Lewis would learn astronomy, botany, navigation, medicine and biology, among other scientific disciplines. In addition, Lewis spent his time accumulating all the supplies that the expedition was going to need. He wrote list after list of provisions, which included guns, ammunition, medical supplies and scientific instruments. While still on the East Coast, Lewis accumulated almost two tons of goods using the $2,500 Congress had allocated for the expedition. The following list is only a sampling of the supplies taken west by the Corps of Discovery, but it should give a sense of what an undertaking the expedition was. Mathematical Instruments: surveyors compass

hand compass

quadrants

telescope

thermometers

2 sextants

set of plotting instruments

chronometer (needed to calculate longitude) Camp Supplies: 150 yards of cloth to be oiled and sewn into tents and sheets

pliers

chisels

30 steels for striking to make fire

handsaws

hatchets

whetstones

iron corn mill

two dozen tablespoons

mosquito curtains

10 1/2 pounds of fishing hooks and fishing lines

12 pounds of soap

193 pounds of "portable soup" (a thick paste concocted by boiling down beef, eggs and vegetables)

three bushels of salt

writing paper, ink and crayons Presents for Indians: 12 dozen pocket mirrors

4,600 sewing needles

144 small scissors

10 pounds of sewing thread

silk ribbons

ivory combs

handkerchiefs

yards of bright-colored cloth

130 rolls of tobacco

tomahawks that doubled as pipes

288 knives

8 brass kettles

vermilion face paint

33 pounds of tiny beads of assorted colors Clothing: 45 flannel shirts

coats

frocks

shoes

woolen pants

blankets

knapsacks

stockings Arms and Ammunition: 15 prototype Model 1803 muzzle-loading .54 caliber rifles

knives

500 rifle flints

420 pounds of sheet lead for bullets

176 pounds of gunpowder packed in 52 lead canisters

1 long-barreled rifle that fired its bullet with compressed air, rather than by flint, spark and powder Medicine and Medical Supplies: 50 dozen Dr. Rushs patented "Rushs pills"

lancets

forceps

syringes

tourniquets

1,300 doses of physic

1,100 hundred doses of emetic

3,500 doses of diaphoretic (sweat inducer)

other drugs for blistering, salivation and increased kidney output Traveling Library: Bartons Elements of Botany

Antoine Simon Le Page du Pratzs History of Louisiana

Richard Kirwans Elements of Mineralogy

A Practical Introduction to Spherics and Nautical Astronomy

The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris

a four-volume dictionary

a two-volume edition of Linnaeus (the founder of the Latin classification of plants)

tables for finding longitude and latitude

map of the Great Bend of the Missouri River

