Description
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. Together the captains kept a journal, a richly detailed record of the flora and fauna they sighted, the Indian tribes they encountered, and the awe-inspiring landscape they traversed, from their base camp near present-day St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River. In keeping this record they made an incomparable contribution to the literature of exploration and the writing of natural history.
About the Author
Meriwether Lewis, born August 18, 1774, in Virginia, served in the US Infantry during General Anthony Wayne’s Northwest Territory campaigns and, in 1801, became President Thomas Jefferson’s private secretary. A serious man, Lewis was known to be subject to periods of melancholy. After the expedition to explore the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, he was appointed governor of Upper Louisiana. He died on October 11, 1809, apparently by his own hand.
William Clark, born August 1, 1770, in Virginia, was the brother of George Rogers Clark, a hero of the American Revolution. He served in the US Army as an artillery officer. With Meriwether Lewis, Clark led the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition from 1804 to 1806 across the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Clark was a popular leader; he was also popular among the Indians and served as Indian Agent in the Louisiana Territory. He died September 1, 1838.
Anthony Brandt attended Princeton and Columbia before becoming a freelance writer for Esquire, American Heritage, The Atlantic, Psychology Today, GQ, Men's Journal, National Geographic Adventure, and many other magazines. He was the essays editor of the Pushcart Prize for 18 years and has served as a nonfiction judge for the National Book Awards. Brandt is the editor of the Adventure Classics series for National Geographic Books, including the first edition of The Journals of Lewis and Clark.
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