From expedition to exposition: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and memory at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson enlisted Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and search for a transcontinental waterway that would connect Americans to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson's instructions to Lewis and Clark reflected his own interests as a scholar and politician, notably science, Native Americans, and his vision of an agrarian republic. Lewis and Clark's mission grew out of Jefferson's personal ideas about western development.;In 1905, Portland, Oregon hosted a world's fair entitled the "Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair." Portland's urban boosters sought to pull Oregon from its economic depression by attracting business and settlers. It particularly hoped to dominate the markets in the Asian Pacific following a string of American military conquests throughout the same region. Using Lewis and Clark as the standard bearers for further development and expansion, the Lewis and Clark Centennial shaped the memory of Lewis and Clark to fit the particular needs of politicians and businesses, often contradicting the very goals Thomas Jefferson had hoped to achieve.