Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier

A pirogue is a small, flat-bottomed boat used by the Corps of Discovery for navigating the narrow and often shallow rivers that comprised their expedition route. The pirogue’s portability and maneuverability made it indispensable in rugged terrain and on unpredictable waterways.

The keelboat was a larger, specially designed vessel used during the early stages of the expedition to carry heavy equipment, provisions, and scientific instruments. Its bulk and difficulty in navigating upstream eventually led Lewis and Clark to abandon it, demonstrating the logistical limits of exploration.

A sextant is a navigational instrument used to measure the angle between celestial bodies and the horizon, crucial for determining latitude. Lewis brought sextants as part of his scientific toolkit to create accurate maps and charts of the newly explored territories.