The Adventures of Lewis and Clark

by John Bakeless

In 1803, when the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France (for a scant $15 million), it doubled the size of the young country. Stretching north from New Orleans to the Canadian border and westward from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, the area contained over 800,000 square miles. That same year, President Thomas Jefferson designated two young men — Meriweather Lewis and William Clark — as leaders of an expedition to explore this vast new acquisition, as well as other lands of the West. In the spring of 1804, the two men and an intrepid band of hunters, carpenters, gunsmiths, and blacksmiths, known as the "Corps of Discovery," embarked on a perilous journey that would truly give meaning to the term "Wild West."

Genres: History, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2002

Reviews

[Joel Koehn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine, that's all. It seems to be a historically accurate portrayal of the Corps of Discovery's journey and I enjoyed it as history, but it's not exactly a rip-roaring read.

[Chris E]

Great book, every child should read to learn about the earliy days of our country

[epg · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Thomas Jefferson had an insatiable curiosity. He wanted to know what lay in the remote, unexplored regions west of the Mississippi." This book tells the captivating story of how Lewis, Clark and their Corps of Discovery answered Jefferson's query through their legendary expedition of 1803 to 1806 - Up the Missouri River, across the Rockies, down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean and back again, a 3-year, 8,000-mile (12,900 km) adventure of unexplored wilderness, intriguing native American peoples, raging torrents and magnificent waterfalls, resourceful frontiersmen, rampaging bison, hailstorms and fires, grizzlies and wolves, harsh cold, illness and injury, hunger and exhaustion. But mostly this is a story of courage and determination.

I like the direct, factual feel of the narrative. It makes me believe this is truly how it was. Still, it doesn't read like a textbook. There's enough storytelling to bring the tale to life. It's an enticing adventure for its intended middle-grade audience and an enjoyable, interesting read for anyone else looking for a non-fiction overview of this remarkable journey. I came away intrigued to know more.

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't say Max loved this book. I think he tuned much of it out while I was reading aloud. I kind of did, too. The writing does not flow well for a read-aloud book. Some of the names are hard to pronounce and it was challenging to keep track of where they were as they traveled; the book felt very disjointed to us, but then again, maybe we were just in bad moods?

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

New Words:

Amity - pg.70 -

Rheumatism - pg.72 -

Obstetrics - pg.75 - Sacagawea having a baby

Arduous - pg.99 - description of trip

Carbunkle - pg.120 - on the side of Clark's ankle

Vermilion - pg.132 - face painted with this

Venison - pg.149 - food