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The Journals of Lewis and Clark (Lewis & Clark Expedition) |  | Authors: Meriwether Lewis, William Clark
Creators: Bernard DeVoto, Stephen E. Ambrose
Brand: Houghton Mifflin Company
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.30
as of 9/9/2010 11:52 MDT details
You Save: $14.65 (98%)
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Seller: river-city-books
Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 102436
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Pages: 576
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.4
MPN: 9780395859964
ISBN: 0395859964
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.8042
UPC: 046442859967
EAN: 9780395859964
ASIN: 0395859964
Publication Date: April 30, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In 1803, when the United States purchased Louisiana from France, the great expanse of this new American territory was a blank -- not only on the map but in our knowledge. President Thomas Jefferson keenly understood that the course of the nation s destiny lay westward and that a national Voyage of Discovery must be mounted to determine the nature and accessibility of the frontier. He commissioned his young secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead an intelligence-gathering expedition from the Missouri River to the northern Pacific coast and back. From 1804 to 1806, Lewis, accompanied by co-captain William Clark, the Shoshone guide Sacajawea, and thirty-two men, made the first trek across the Louisiana Purchase, mapping the rivers as he went, tracing the principal waterways to the sea, and establishing the American claim to the territories of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Together the captains kept a journal, a richly detailed record of the flora and fauna they sighted, the Indian tribes they encountered, and the awe-inspiring landscape they traversed, from their base camp near present-day St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River. In keeping this record they made an incomparable contribution to the literature of exploration and the writing of natural history. Recommended in Laura Berquist U.S. History Geography and American Literature Author: Stephen AmbrosePages: 576, PaperbackPublisher: Houghton Mifflin CompanyISBN: 1-59471-066-X
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
 Great book - in the words of Lewis and Clark April 18, 2010
Zee
While reading the preface of this book, I learned so much that I had not learned before regarding our nation's early history and expansion, including how the early explorers were picked for this journey. What they went through on the journey was almost herculean. The trials and tribulations of these men (and one woman with a child) were unimaginable. They were amazing people and I cannot recommend too highly this book. This is probably the best book I have ever read.
An amazing historic journey related by the travelers themselves September 30, 2009
andris virsnieks (Seattle, WA USA)
It's amazing they pulled it off and lost only one man (and got into a real fight with the natives only once) and despite all the incredible difficulties wrote it all down. There is no substitute for getting it directly from the horse's mouth. Bernard DeVoto does a great job keeping the story flowing with footnotes, editorial explanations and maps. This book will help you connect the dots at all those Lewis and Clark displays when you take a rest in the West from driving.
 Lewis & Clarke Journals September 5, 2008
JennyM (Sydney, Australia)
Bought as a gift for my husband who is interested in this sort of book. He really enjoyed it.
 An OK read but slightly boring! April 18, 2008
Chris Peters (Arkansas)
2 out of 12 found this review helpful
I am not an accomplished reader so it has to really hold my attention to finish a book. This book is written exactly from L&C's journals. Lots of mispelled words and some confusion. Sometimes hard to follow. Sometimes the minute details are a bit much. They don't really expound on things. I guess what they go through on a day to day basis is somewhat mundane at times. Overall a decent read IMO...I wouldn't get it again if I knew what I know now. Oh well. Enjoy!
Fascinating Story, Can't Stop Talking, Use Google Earth! March 1, 2008
Brian D. Michaels (Valparaiso, IN USA)
I read books in a wide variety of topics. I decided to read about Lewis and Clark because I felt I just did not know enough about it and I felt that I should. When I received the book, I opened it and was fearful that I made a mistake because it was made up of journal entries, day by day in Lewis and Clark's own words. I started reading and I found myself immmediately engrossed in the story. I mean immediately. You can read the letter from Jefferson containing the instructions and mission of the expedition- just fascinating. Then you get the story of the expedition, day by day, straight from the horses' mouth. I could not put this book down. I could not stop talking about it. I used Google Earth (so cool!!!) to follow the Missouri River into the Rockies, across the mountains, finally to the Columbia to the Pacific and then back. Canoeing up rivers, down rivers, fighting bears, trading and smoking with indians, fighting with some indians, at times overheated, at times freezing. Surving on the land with strategy and forethought. I learn an incredible amount of information about that time in our country's history. I was blown away. And the greatest part, I had to keep reminding myself of, is that it was absent all of the politically corrected revisionism we read today. This story is straight from them. They are sitting down at night and recording what they experienced in 1804 (05-06). Those notes are delivered to you via an author Bernard Devoto who uses only the most relevant parts of the journals (leaves out the volumes of strict scientific research data). Then, when he has to make the occasion insertion of a letter or two to make sure a misspelled word is not misinterpreted, he gives very clear instruction on how he has denoted the change. He also, upon occasion will give a summary of events, or a note of interest.
The end result is a splendid story, rich in historical information, written by the men who lived it, about one of the most important events in our country's history. I leave you with this excerpt, logged Sunday August 18th, 1805 by a man who is in the middle of the American West, where no white man has tread before, trading and smoking with Indians, shooting bear and deer to survive, canoeing upriver for 2000 miles;
"This day I completed my thirty first year, and conceived that I had in all human probability now existed about half the period which I am to remain in this subluminary world. I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the happiness of the human race or to advance the information of the succeeding generation. I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence..."
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
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