The 2014 Native American $1 Coin commemorates how Native American hospitality ensured the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
When the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the Continental Divide, the nature of its mission fundamentally changed. Up to that point, it had been exploring territory that European powers would recognize as belonging to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase. Once past the headwaters of the Missouri River, the expedition was securing the American claim to a new accession of territory, the Pacific Northwest.
More than ever before, success of the mission depended on help from the Indian tribes, who might not have understood the long-term consequences of their hospitality. For every step of their way through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast, Lewis and Clark depended on the friendship, supplies and logistical support of the tribes on their route. They camped in the midst of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes in the winter of 1804-05 and the Clatsop in 1806, and their cooperation was essential to the resounding success of this mission.
