Read the passage.
Bears on the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are best known for their expedition from the Mississippi River to the West Coast and back. The expedition, called the Corps of Discovery, was President Thomas Jefferson's visionary project to explore the American West. It began in May of 1804 and ended in September 1806. On their journey, Lewis and Clark have many interesting experiences with both people and animals.
It was the largest bear they'd ever seen, a great grizzly bear that weighed an estimated 600 pounds. A "most tremendous looking animal, and extremely hard to kill," wrote Lewis in his journal on May 5, 1805. Clark described the grizzly as "very large and a terrible looking animal." Clark and another member of the expedition fired 10 shots at it before it died.
Several tribes of Native Americans had told Lewis and Clark about grizzly bears. The tribes would only attack these great bears if there were 6-10 people in their hunting party, and even then the bears would sometimes kill one of them. The first grizzlies Lewis saw during the expedition were two somewhat smaller bears. He and another hunter had easily killed one of them. That day Lewis wrote in his journal that although the Native Americans with their bows and arrows might be vulnerable to bears, the grizzlies were no match for highly skilled riflemen. He soon changed his mind when he found himself alone and easy prey.
Lewis was out scouting on June 15, 1805. He decided to make camp and shot a buffalo. As he was watching the buffalo fall, a grizzly bear came rushing toward him. Lewis raised his gun to shoot and then realized he had not reloaded his rifle and there was no one there to help him. The bear was getting closer. There were no trees or bushes nearby, but there was a river. Lewis quickly ran into the water. The bear followed. When the bear saw Lewis in the water, for no apparent reason he stopped and ran in the other direction. Lewis was unclear about why the bear left, but he knew he was lucky! After that he thought that the Corps (Lewis and Clark's expedition party) should not go out alone. Even at camp, he insisted they should sleep with their guns beside them in case of sudden bear attacks.
Bears seemed to be everywhere! Bears chased members of the Corps through the woods, into bushes, and into the water on several occasions. On July 15, 1806, Hugh McNeal was out alone on horseback. All of a sudden he saw a grizzly bear in the bushes. His horse bucked and threw McNeal in proximity to the bear. The bear raised itself up to attack. What could McNeal do at such close range? He hit the bear with his gun. The bear was temporarily stunned and fell down. McNeal quickly climbed out of reach in the branches of a nearby tree. Because of their large size and straight claws, grizzly bears aren't good tree climbers, so the bear waited at the base of the tree. And waited. And waited. Finally just before dark, the bear gave up and left. McNeal climbed down and made it back to camp safely.
By the end of the expedition Lewis believed that the Corps had been very lucky to not lose anyone to a grizzly bear. He wrote that "the hand of providence has been most wonderfully in our favor."
Question
Which statement is a main idea of “Bears on the Lewis and Clark Expedition”?
Responses
Lewis kept a journal of the events that occurred on the expedition, including encounters with bears.
Lewis jumped into a river for safety when approached by a grizzly, but was surprised when the bear did not follow him into the water.
While Native Americans hunted with bows and arrows, members of the expedition chose to use rifles.
Even though the Native Americans warned the Corps about the danger of grizzly bears, the men thought their guns would protect them.