Louisiana Purchase / Lewis and Clark Expedition / They Passed This Way / Old Trail Road

Louisiana Purchase, also, Lewis and Clark Expedition, also, They Passed This Way, also, Old Trail Road. . Louisiana Purchase 1803. Numerous states emerged including Missouri in 1821, doubling the size of the United States. , Acquisition of the Platte Purchase Indian Territory in 1836 extended the State boundary westward to the Missouri River. , Settlers crossed the Nodaway River inland at the rapids via Old Trail Road Gateway to Holt County, which became a feeder line for the Oregon Trail. , Holt County was established in 1841, with Oregon, named for an Indian princess, selected as the county seat., Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804-1806, Meriwether Lewis 1774-1809 Private Presidential Secretary to Thomas Jefferson Governor of the Louisiana Territory, William Clark 1770-1838 Soldier and Explorer Superintendent of Indian Affairs Governor of Missouri Territory, They Passed This Way. Acquired from France during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, The Louisiana Purchase encompassed 875,000 square miles costing 15 million dollars or about 3 cents per acre. , Virginia natives Lewis and Clark, launched their expedition departing St. Louis in May 1804 on a voyage of discovery, utilizing canoes and oar powered keelboats. , Congress appropriated 2,500 dollars for the 8,000 mile round trip venture that took two-and-a-half years, involving over 40 men, the Indian interpreter Sacagawea and a dog., Old Trail Road. Jesse Carroll, among the first pioneers, immediately built the first courthouse, jail and the Carroll-Lenz Stagecoach Inn in the 1840's. Assisted by his devoted black slave. , Descendents of many early families still reside in Holt County. , In the mid-1800's others travelled through Oregon, MO., down Sterrett Hill crossing the Missouri River at Iowa Point, westward to the California Gold Rush and the Pacific Northwest.