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Lewis and Clark and the First Soil Surveys of the American West (1803-1806)
Large map of Lewis and Clark Trail over the Ecological Regions of the U.S. At the turn of the 19th Century, the U.S. population was growing quickly, and there was concern that there might not be enough farmland to sustain the nation. President Thomas Jefferson instructed Lewis and Clark to report on the Western lands of the Louisiana Purchase and their potential for agricultural purposes. Lewis and Clark conducted the first soil surveys of this land, using many of the same descriptive terms that remain today. NRCS was created in the 20th Century to address similar interests. Jefferson's charge to Lewis and Clark reflected the need of a young nation to know and understand its natural resources. Every time we buy a loaf of bread, turn on the tap for a drink of water, or admire a flock of geese heading south in the fall, we are connected to the land. While much has changed on the landscape since the Lewis and Clark expedition, none of us has lost our dependence on the land and what it has to offer. While we have become an urban nation, we remain an agricultural land, and preserving private land for the purpose of production is just as important today as it was in 1803 when Lewis and Clark launched their remarkable expedition.
Painting With Soil: Soil Paintings of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Jan Lang, Technician at the NRCS National Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, NE, painted a series of Lewis and Clark themed paintings entirely out of soil pigments.
A Garden or a Desert? Lewis and Clark's observations of the then undocumented territory of the American West These items require
Adobe Acrobat. Quotes and Observations from the Lewis and Clark Expedition www.lewisandclark200.gov |
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