The Journals of Lewis and Clark

by Lewis, Meriwether (Author); Clark, William (Author); Bergon, Frank (Editor)

• ISBN13: 9780142437360
• ISBN10: 0142437360
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Penguin Classics

Summary

The 1804-06 exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, which broke ground for America's westward expansion. 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.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
A Note on the Text	xxi
Jefferson's Instructions to Lewis	xxiii
Clark's Questions Concerning Indians of the West	xxxi
Lewis's Estimate of Expenses, 1803	xxxvi
Articles Purchased for the Expedition	xxxvii
Map: Lewis and Clark Exploration	xlix
The Journals of Lewis and Clark
Up the Missouri	1	(34)
Meeting the Lakota	35	(36)
Winter Among the Mandan	71	(24)
The Great Unknown	95	(57)
The Thundering Falls	152	(39)
In Search of the Shoshone	191	(31)
Across the Great Divide	222	(67)
Down the Rapids	289	(37)
Winter at Fort Clatsop	326	(43)
The Start for Home	369	(75)
Lewis's Shortcut	444	(24)
The Homestretch	468	(19)
Index	487