The Journal of Lewis & Clarke to the Mouth of the Columbia River Beyond the Rocky Mountains in the Years 1804-6

by Meriwether Lewis, William Clark

s/t: Giving a Faithful Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

258 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2009

About the author

Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark, whose mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase.

Reviews

[Jared Osborne]

More like the summaries of the journal of Lewis and Clark

[Deborah Pommer]

I listened to the audiobook edition.

[Emily]

This is the wrong version of the Lewis and Clarke diaries. Thank you, Librivox, for presenting this for me to painlessly listen to on audio, but this is a summary of the diaries with an eye to which lands might be exploited for which natural resources. Somebody compiled this is 1840. There is almost no diary here. The parts are, as best I can remember:
-Getting formally organized
-A letter about eating dogs to Lewis' brother
-Crossing the Rockies on dog meat
-Native Americans
-Native Americans and their clothing
-White people wildly misunderstand good manners
-Native people's houses are incommodious
-Native American women
-Warfare
-The Ojibwe in particular
-Where did the Native Americans come from? Let's ask Pliny the Elder
-Somebody else's diary
-Somebody else describes the chemical composition of a hot springs in astonishing detail
-A glossary of words like Kenabic and Keewaydin. I had no idea!
-Two Native legends and a tale about Romulus

I wanted the Missouri and crossing the Rockies and floating down the Columbia! This book was oddly fascinating and it probably served a purpose to early entrepreneurs?, people going off to start townships?, prospectors?, people who want to learn about Lewis and Clarke's expedition but hate the diary format? I don't know. Where's Sacajawea? I felt noble, marching off into the brave unknown with an audio copy of a boring but seminal work of American history, but my effort was for naught and I need to go find the real diary and read that. This was okay, but it's probably not what you're looking for either. It was actually beautiful in parts and fascinating in a government report on anthropology and botany sort of way.

[Thom Swennes]

The Journal of Lewis and Clarke by Meriwether Lewis and William Clarke gives an account of their expedition west in 1804-1806. The journal contains relative little topographical, geographical, botanical or mineral descriptions but does have an interesting study of the Indians they encountered. They relay many fascinating descriptions of Native Americans, although I think that they over simplify and generalize the different tribes and nations. European and American prejudices to strange and foreign peoples are present in their descriptions. The book includes a humorous array of theories as to the roots of the American Indian. I think this book is well worth reading (even though it contains many false assumptions) as it gives the reader a look at this country before white man moved, in mass, westward. The picture they paint will never be seen again. All Americans and everyone with an interest of the past should add this book to their reading lists.

[Warrick]

Very interesting ro read this myth making American journey, especially in comparison to similar Australian explorations, like Burke and Wills. De Voto's notes haven’t aged well but the journal itself, as it enters into the American wilderness and engages with the cultures there, is an great insight into one of the great journeys of exploration.