The Definitive Journals of Lewis & Clark

by Lewis, Meriwether

• ISBN13: 9780803280120
• ISBN10: 0803280122
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-01
• Publisher: Bison Books

Summary

Since the time of Columbus, explorers dreamed of a water passage across the North American continent. President Thomas Jefferson shared this dream. He conceived the Corps of Discovery to travel up the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains and westward along possible river routes to the Pacific Ocean. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led this expedition of 18046. Along the way they filled hundreds of notebook pages with observations of the geography, Indian tribes, and natural history of the trans-Mississippi West. The late-summer and fall months of 1805 were the most difficult period of Lewis and Clark's journey. This volume documents their travels from the Three Forks of the Missouri River in present-day Montana to the Cascades of the Columbia River on today's Washington-Oregon border, including the expedition's progress over the rugged Bitterroot Mountains, along the nearly impenetrable Lolo Trail. Along the way, the explorers encounter Shoshones, Flatheads, Nez Perces, and other Indian tribes, some of whom had never before met white people.

Author Biography

Gary E. Moulton is Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of American History at the University of Nebraska and recipient of the J. Franklin Jameson Award of the American Historical Association for the editing of these journals.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	vi
Preface	vii
Editorial Symbols and Abbreviations	x
Special Symbols of Lewis and Clark	x
Common Abbreviations of Lewis and Clark	xi
Introduction to Volume 5	1	(6)
From Three Forks to Beaverhead Rock, July 28--August 10, 1805	7	(61)
From Beaverhead Rock to the Great Divide, August 11--16, 1805	68	(41)
Crossing the Great Divide, August 17--20, 1805	109	(24)
Searching for Navigable Waters, August 21--26, 1805	133	(42)
Down the Lolo Trail, August 27--October 10, 1805	175	(86)
The Rapids of the Snake and into the Columbia, October 11--20, 1805	261	(53)
Descending the Columbia to the Cascades, October 21--November 1, 1805	314	(69)
Sources Cited	383	(14)
Index	397