On May 14, 1804 Louis and Clark began their expedition from St Loius, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean and back. It took over two years. I have several books that are great for this story.
The first book one should read about Lewis and Clark would be “The Lewis & Clark Expedition” by Richard L. Neuberger, 1951. This Landmark book has been read by tens of thousands of school kids in the boomer generation, with countless book reports done. It is an easy to read book. I probably first read this in sixth grade at Westfield school in Winthrop Harbor.
“Undaunted Courage. Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West”, by Stephen E. Ambrose, 1997, is a must read book on American history. I truly enjoyed it. Stephen Ambrose has written many good books, and I have several, but I think this is my favorite.
Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis west, not only because he wanted to know of a waterway to the Pacific, but if the Missouri country could support population growth. Lewis was to find this out and more; he was tasked with finding fur trade information about the British, knowledge of individual tribes, including numbers of population, names of leaders, language concerns, relationships with other tribes, how to communicate; all types of knowledge. He was to detail map everything. While Lewis was to satisfy Indian tribes of the innocense of his travels, he was also to temper the talks with how large and powerful the United States government was.
“Undaunted Courage” explains all of this, along with the background of all involved, and the details of the expedition. Ambrose has an extensive bibliography, including the actual journals that help authenticate and bring the stories alive. As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the subject of Lewis and Clark. I have also visited the Gateway to the West Museum in St Louis several times to see more.
And we cannot forget the story of Sacagawea, intertwined into the jouney. While her help as translator was important, even more so was that having an Indian woman with a child, signified that the expedition was peaceful, as Indian war parties never had women with them.
For someone just starting to read American history, or for someone who really wants to learn a great deal about American history, these two books on Lewis and Clark will be a very worthwhile start. Thanks for listening (and reading).
Librarytomes 