"President Jefferson was faced with a serious question upon entering office. The French were in desperate need of money offered us the entire Louisiana Territory. Realizing the enormity of this opportunity he agreed and the United States more than doubled its size. Jefferson commission a team lead by Lewis and Clark to investigate and map the new Louisiana Territory from St Louis to the Pacific Ocean. "Great joy in Camp we are in view of the Ocean, this great Pacific Ocean which we been so long anxious to see and the roaring or noise made by the waves braking on the rocky shores (as I suppose) may be heard distinctly". William Clark in his Voyage of Discovery Journal.
"The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or "Corps of Discovery Expedition" (1804–1806) was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the expedition had several goals. Their objects were both scientific and commercial – to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and to discover how the region could be exploited economically." Source: Wikipedia