On Lewis's part of the journey home, he was involved in a skirmish with Native Americans. (This was the only fight of the entire journey, in both directions.) Lewis's bad luck continued several days later when one of his own men shot him while they were out hunting. The party eventually made it to the Dakota Territory, where Lewis recovered and they left Sacagawea and her family. Incredibly, she had given birth to a baby just before they had departed the Dakota Territory, in 1804, and had carried that baby on her back during the entire expedition. When she arrived home, the baby was 2 years old.

Here also, Lewis and Clark hooked up again and headed back to St. Louis. They arrived there on Sept. 22, 1806. In the more than two years of their journey, they had covered 8,000 miles and discovered 173 new plants and 122 species and subspecies of animals.

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