Final answer:
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, authorized by Thomas Jefferson and led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, occurred from 1804 to 1806, lasting around two years. The Long Expedition referenced is not related and took place in 1819. The Corps of Discovery provided crucial data about the western United States.
Step-by-step explanation:
A student may have been confused about the name of the expedition, referring to Major Long's expedition instead of Lewis and Clark's expedition. The actual duration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as authorized by President Thomas Jefferson and led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark, was from 1804 to 1806. This exploration mission, which is a significant event in U.S. history, took approximately two years to travel from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean and back.
It is also important to note that there is no record of an expedition led by someone with the name 'Major Long' that lasted from 1805 to 1807. However, the Long Expedition is another historical event that took place later in 1819 and is unrelated to Lewis and Clark's journey. Therefore, the duration mentioned by the student does not correspond to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which lasted from May 1804 until September 1806, culminating in a wealth of knowledge acquired about the western territories of the U.S.
The Corps of Discovery, as it was also known, did not find the fabled Northwest Passage but provided valuable information about the Indians, geography, and the flora and fauna of the western regions they explored. Their findings enabled the U.S. to establish claims to vast new territories.