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The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the expedition had several goals; to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, to discover how the region could be exploited economically and to find a direct and practicable water route for commerce with Asia (the Northwest Passage). They were accompanied by a 15 year old Shoshone Indian woman, Sacagawea, the wife of a French-Canadian fur trader. After crossing the Rocky Mountains, the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean in present-day Oregon in November 1805. They returned in 1806, bringing with them an immense amount of information about the region as well as numerous plant and animal specimens