The four-year-long expedition covered nearly 140,000 kilometers (87,000 miles), including a full circumnavigation of the globe. Wilkes and his crew visited Antarctica (proving its existence), charted hundreds of Pacific islands, and surveyed the Columbia River in present-day Oregon.
This map depicts their route and includes eyewitness accounts from crew members who had to navigate through unfamiliar seas and lands.
Caption:
This map depicts their route and includes eyewitness accounts from crew members who had to navigate through unfamiliar seas and lands.
