Prepare with Lewis: 5K

Welcome to your ChronoRun time travel adventure. It's January 1803, and President Jefferson has pushed for money to make the Louisiana Purchase, and to fund an expedition to find a route to the Pacific. Jefferson put Captain Meriweather Lewis in charge. You watch as Lewis learns how to use a sextant to calculate longitude and figure out the distance he would be crossing.

You're at Harpers Ferry in Virigina, where Lewis came to acquire weapons, and to try out an experimental collapsible metal framed boat. This would be lightweight, and could be carried until needed, then covered in hides on-site.

In Philadelphia, Lewis speaks to General William Irvin about procuring portable soup. This mix of dried beans and vegetables could be mixed with water and heated to create soup. He also purchased things like beads and small metal tools to be used as trade goods with the Native Americans they would meet on the journey.

Still in Philadelphia, Lewis meets with Dr. Benjamin Rush, to purchase various medications to be used on the journey, although considering the pills included a significant amount of mercury, the cure might be worse than the disease! Dr. Rush also advises him that when fatigued, they will be better served by lying down for a couple of hours, that longer spent resting in any other position.

In one of the University of Pennsylvania's libraries, you pick up books on botany, mineralogy, astronomy and biology, all books that Lewis took with him to help him describe the new plants and animals that he would see.

Lewis prepares to head to Indiana Territory to meet up with William Clark, to invite him to accompany the expedition.

Finally on the Missouri River, Lewis and Clark set off on their expedition from the town of St. Charles. Most of the town has turned out to wave them off. From here, they're on their own!