Wilderness Journey: The Life of William Clark - Hardcover

Foley, William E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826215335 ISBN 13: 9780826215338

Publisher: University of Missouri, 2004

Synopsis

Strange as it may seem today, William Clark—best known as the American explorer who joined Meriwether Lewis in leading an overland expedition to the Pacific—has many more claims to fame than his legendary Voyage of Discovery, dramatic and daring though that venture may have been. Although studies have been published on virtually every aspect of the Lewis and Clark journey, Wilderness Journey is the first comprehensive account of Clark’s lengthy and multifaceted life.

Following Lewis and Clark’s great odyssey, Clark’s service as a soldier, Indian diplomat, and government official placed him at center stage in the national quest to possess and occupy North America’s vast western hinterland and prefigured U.S. policies in the region. In his personal life, Clark had to overcome challenges no less daunting than those he faced in the public arena. Foley pays careful attention to the family and business dimensions of Clark’s private world, adding richness to this well-rounded and revealing portrait of the man and his courageous life. 

Coinciding with the bicentennial in 2004 of the departure of Lewis and Clark’s famed Corps of Discovery, Wilderness Journey fills a major gap in scholarship. Intended for the general reader, as well as for specialists in the field, this fascinating book provides a well-balanced and thorough account of one of America’s most significant frontiersmen.

About this title

About the Author

William E. Foley is Professor Emeritus of History at Central Missouri State University. He is the General Editor of the Missouri Biography Series and author or editor of numerous books, including Genesis of Missouri: From Wilderness Outpost to Statehood, Dictionary of Missouri Biography, and A History of Missouri, Volume I: 1673–1820, all available from the University of Missouri Press.

Reviews

Long lacking a modern biography, Clark is suddenly benefiting from the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. Along with Landon Y. Jones (William Clark and the Shaping of the West [BKL Ap 1 04]), Foley rectifies the oversight and reflects on Clark's papers, which are ordinarily mined for more general frontier histories. Foley renders a complete, tangible picture, from the domestic details of Clark's household to the wider historical stage of American expansion and settlement. Dealing with Native Americans in war (he fought at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1795) and in peace (he negotiated dozens of treaties), Clark was the central American official at St. Louis brokering the relentless pressure on the tribes of the trans-Mississippi territories. Foley appraises Clark as ably diplomatic and comparatively humane in the context of the times but is not so flexible when considering Clark's slaveholding and particularly his treatment of York, whom he famously took on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Meticulous and encyclopedic, Foley's biography will be a must purchase for Lewis and Clark collections. Gilbert Taylor
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Edition details

• Publisher: University of Missouri
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0826215335
• ISBN 13: 9780826215338
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368