THE JOURNALS OF LEWIS AND CLARK : American Heritage Library

Lewis, Meriwether; Clark, William; (Bernard DeVoto, Editor)

ISBN 10: 039508380X / ISBN 13: 9780395083802

Published by Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA, 1953

About this Item

Text/BRAND NEW & Bright. Illustrated softcover/NF w/trace shelfwear. Excellent, authoratative condensed/edited presentatation of the The Journals of Lewis and Clark by historian of America West & Pulitzer prize winner Bernard DeVoto (1897-1955). Volume remains essentially intact & includes major events of the Reuben Thwaites edition (1904-1905) enriched by interpolated entries from Private Joseph Whitehouse, Seargents John Orway & Patrick Grass, and further enhanced with elucidating editorial remarks. 504 pgs in 33 chapters followed by 3 appendices. A classic, in one volume, unto itself. Fine use of primary resources. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (August 31, 1803, to September 25, 1806) was also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition composed of a select group of U.S. Army & civilian volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. The expedition itself was commisioned by President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to explore newly acquired territory. Seller Inventory # 020188

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE JOURNALS OF LEWIS AND CLARK : American ...

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA

Publication Date: 1953

Binding: Soft cover

Illustrator: Erwin Raisz (Maps)

Condition: New

Dust Jacket Condition: None as Issued

Edition: First Edition, 3rd Pinting

About this title

Synopsis:

A GREAT DOCUMENT OF EARLY AMERICAN EXPLORATION, WITH MAPS; 504 PAGES WITH INDEX

From the Back Cover:

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.