The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such
principal stream of it, as, by
it's course & communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, may
offer the most direct &
practicable water communication across this continent, for the
purposes of commerce.
- Thomas Jefferson,
Letter of Instruction to Lewis and Clark, June 20, 1803

According to the excerpt above, what was Jefferson's primary interest in the rivers located in the Louisiana Territory?

A. energy sources
B. natural resources
C. political boundaries
D. Not here