Limited Point of View. A literary work is written from a limited point of view if everything is seen through the eyes of a single character. As you read these entries, consider whose point of view you are getting from them and whose is left out.

• History Connection. President Thomas Jefferson organized the Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark’s expedition party, for the purpose of exploring the far West. In a letter to Lewis dated June 20, 1803, Jefferson wrote: “The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal streams of it, as, by it’s course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean . . . may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce.” However, Jefferson had something else in mind other than trade routes. He had just purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French in 1802 and had plans to expand the United States all the way to the Pacific Coast. To do this, he needed more information about the people, animals, and plants that currently occupied the region. Over a period of two and a half years in 1804–1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition traveled to the Pacific Coast and back to St. Louis, Missouri, enduring much danger and hardship along the way. They met many Native peoples whose help enabled them to survive and succeed. In the end, their voyage indeed opened a vast new territory to the United States.
• In the selection you are about to read, the Shoshone Indian woman Sacagawea (thought to mean “Bird Woman” in the Hidatsa Indian language) is featured. She joined the group during their first winter in North Dakota, when her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, enlisted as an interpreter. It was decided that Sacagawea should come along as well, since, as a woman with an infant son, she could serve as an emblem of peace. The story of Sacagawea has become a legend, though historians disagree as to the significance of her role in the expedition. Some say she served as a guide and interpreter, while others maintain that she actually did very little to help. In any case, she has become symbolic of the Lewis and Clark voyage.
• Geography Connection. In his journals, Lewis makes calculations of latitude and longitude. Look at a globe or see the map at right. Lines of latitude are marked parallel to the earth’s equator. Lines of longitude are marked perpendicular to the equator. These imaginary lines were invented by explorers and sailors who needed a way to precisely calculate their position on an uncharted Earth. By looking at the sun’s position in the sky, explorers could figure out the latitude and the longitude of their exact location in order to better chart their journey.
  

If you had been asked to participate in the Corps of Discovery, knowing the dangers and hardships you would face, would you accept? Why, or why not?