Synopses & Reviews
The first four volumes of the new edition of the
Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition have been widely heralded as a lasting achievement in western history studies. This eagerly awaited fifth volume begins on July 28, 1805, more than one year after Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on their epic journey. The expedition now enters upon perhaps the most difficult part of its route, from the Three Forks of the Missouri River in present-day Montana, over the Bitterroot Mountains, and to the Cascades of the Columbia River on today's Washington-Oregon border. The explorers encounter Shoshone, Flathead, Nez Perce, and other Indian tribes, some of whom have never before met white people.
Incorporating a wide range of new scholarship dealing with all aspects of the expedition, from Indian languages to plants and animals to the geographical and historical context, this new edition expands and updates the annotation of the last edition, published early in this century.
Review
"Lewis and Clark loom over the narrative literature of the West as the Rockies loom over the rivers that run through them. These Journals are to the narrative of the American West as the Iliad is to the epic or as Don Quixote is to the novel: a first exemplar so great as to contain in embryo the genre's full potential. The narrative writing about the West that came before Lewis and Clark seems fragmentary and slight; what came after them seems insipid and slight, lacking both the scale and the force of those Journals." Larry McMurtry, The New York Review of Books
Review
"[This edition] stands as one of the great accomplishments of American scholarship and scholarly publishing alike. The work of historian Gary Moulton and a team of some three dozen specialists working through the University of Nebraska's Center for Great Plains Studies with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the 13-volume Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was published by the University of Nebraska Press from 1983 to 2001." Gregory McNamee, Washington Post Book World
Review
"Meticulously edited, with detailed (and absolutely necessary) footnotes, these volumes are a triumph of scholarly publishing....One version or another belongs on most readers' shelves and should accompany any road trip through the West." Atlantic Monthly
Review
"A significant project in scholarly publishing and western historiography." Pacific Northwest Quarterly
Review
"One of the most noteworthy ventures in historical publishing." Persimmon Hill
Review
"Moulton not only edited the transcriptions of the journal entries; he also provided a detailed index and oversaw a team of consultants who provided expert annotations on botany, zoology, astronomy, archaeology, linguists and medicine. As a result, readers can understand the expedition in its full context. It's no wonder that the series has received many plaudits." Omaha World Herald
Review
"Meticulous scholarship marks this landmark revision....Essential to every American history collection." Reference and Research
Review
"This is a project of lasting importance and influence." James P. Ronda, author of Lewis and Clark Among the Indians
Review
"Those interested in the Lewis and Clark Expedition in particular and western history in general can look forward to the completion of the Journals series...a milestone as important in its way as the great exploration of Lewis and Clark." John Logan Allen, author of Passage through the Garden: Lewis and Clark and the Image of the American Northwest
Review
"The project is certainly one of the monumentally important undertakings, not only in Western history, but in American cultural history in general. The scholarship involved is meticulous and extremely impressive. This is a work that will be admired by scholars, and it should be of interest to a broad range of informed general readers." William H. Goetzmann, Stiles Professor of American Studies, University of Texas at Austin
Synopsis
The expedition now enters perhaps the most difficult part of its route, from the Three Forks of the Missouri River in present-day Montana, over the Bitterroot Mountains, and to the Cascades of the Columbia River on today's Washington-Oregon border. They encounter Shoshone, Flathead, Nez Perce, and other Indian tribes, some of whom had never before met white people.
About the Author
Gary E. Moulton is Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of American History at the University of Nebraska and recipient of the J. Franklin Jameson Award of the American Historical Association for the editing of these journals.
Table of Contents
List of Figures, vi
Preface, vii
Editorial Symbols and Abbreviations, x
Special Symbols of Lewis and Clark, x
Common Abbreviations of Lewis and Clark, xi
Introduction to Volume 5, 1
Chapter 18: From Three Forks to Beaverhead Rock, July 28August 10, 1805, 7
Chapter 19: From Beaverhead Rock to the Great Divide, August 1116, 1805, 68
Chapter 20: Crossing the Great Divide, August 1720, 1805, 109
Chapter 21: Searching for Navigable Waters, August 2126, 1805, 133
Chapter 22: Down the Lolo Trail, August 27October 10, 1805, 175
Chapter 23: The Rapids of the Snake and into the Columbia, October 1120, 1805, 261
Chapter 24: Descending the Columbia to the Cascades, October 21November 1, 1805, 314
Sources Cited, 383
Index, 397