When Thomas Jefferson sent a team of explorers to discover a way to the Pacific Ocean two hundred years ago, the western border of the United States was the Mississippi River. Jefferson dreamed of uncovering the mysteries of the lands beyond. In 1803, the president sent out a team of brave explorers under Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Lewis and Clark led their group up the Missouri River, across the Rocky Mountains, down the Columbia River to the Pacific and back home again. During their two-and-a-half-year journey, they had exciting adventures, met many Indians, and gathered samples of strange plants and animals. Into the Wilderness describes the difficult yet successful journey that made these men the heroes they are today.