Sunday marks the 205th anniversary of the day Meriwether Lewis launched his boat from Pittsburgh, beginning a landmark journey that took him down the Ohio, up the Mississippi and Missouri and on to the Pacific. This morning, a state historical marker commemorating the event was unveiled near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

"On Aug. 31, 1803, Capt. Meriwether Lewis launched a 50-foot 'keeled boat' from Fort Fayette, 100 yards downriver. This marked the beginning of the three-year expedition commissioned by President Jefferson, which opened America to westward expansion," the marker reads.