Explorers and Their Quest for North America by Philip J. Potter: A Review

Explorers and Their Quest for North America by Philip J. Potter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The fastest means of traveling from point A to point B is a straight line. In this case, point A is Europe and point B, the Middle East, India, and China. The overland route is arduous, long, and relatively straight. The only other option is to sail south along the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, and across the Indian Ocean to points east. Or so the majority of Europeans believe. After all, sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean means eventually the ship will fall off the world. What if that belief is false? What if the world is round and, by sailing west, the ship reaches Asia faster than the known routes?

In the latter half of the fifteenth century, this idea is relatively untried and quite a risk. (The Norse sagas claim that Bjarni Herolfsson did it in 985 and, far in the future, evidence will show that Leif Eriksson reached Newfoundland less than two decades later.) One intrepid seaman is convinced that this novel idea is doable and, after convincing the monarchs of Spain to fund the attempt, Christopher Columbus sails west and discovers the New World – although he believes he has reached the edge of Asia. Thus begins the Age of Discovery (also known as the Age of Exploration), which will span over three centuries.

Within the pages of this book, Potter introduces readers to fourteen explorers, beginning with Christopher Columbus and ending with Meriwether Lewis, who with his friend William Clark, will travel overland to explore and map the United States’ recent purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1804. In between, readers meet the following men, many of whom are well-known and a few who are lesser known, to learn why they are remembered today:

John Cabot – First European to Reach and Explore the North American Mainland
Hernan Cortes – Conqueror of Mexico
Jacques Cartier – Founder of New France
Hernando de Soto – Explorer of American South-east and Discoverer of the Mississippi River
Francisco Coronado – Laid the Foundation for the Spanish Colonization of the American South-west
Samuel de Champlain – Father of French Canada
Captain John Smith – Mercenary Soldier, Governor of Jamestown Colony and Explorer of the American Coastline
Henry Hudson – Explorer of the Hudson River Valley and Canadian Arctic
Robert Cavelier de La Salle – Explorer of the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley
Vitus Bering – Discoverer and Explorer of the Coastline of Alaska
Daniel Boone – Frontiersman and Pioneer of the Ohio Valley
Sir Alexander Mackenzie – Pathfinder of Western Canada

This book includes maps and illustrations, while each chapter lists the author and title of selected books about each man. There is a bibliography, but it is just one compilation of all the recommended sources. There are no notes or an index, which means there is no way to interconnect individuals or accomplishments without reading specific chapters. While the narrative mentions some of the books that individual explorers wrote, these are not included in either the selected sources or the bibliography even though some of them are still available today.

Explorers and Their Quest for North America is by no means an inclusive list of explorers. While each makes a significant contribution to the subject this book explores, Potter doesn’t explain why he chose these particular men or left out others. What this book does best is serve as an engaging refresher for readers about people they first met in history classes as youngsters. In so doing, Potter presents each man with warts and all, making it clear that each was a product of his time and that not all of his accomplishments fall under the “good” category.




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