Synopses & Reviews
and#147;To follow the journeys made by Mackay and Evans up the Missouri and across the plains in 1795and#150;97 is to begin to appreciate the kind of world Lewis and Clark found when they voyaged up the river in 1804. . . . Of all those waterways, none has captured the American imagination more than the Missouri. . . . It is a river of promise, of dreams, and of dreams denied.and#8221; and#150;James P. Ronda, from the Foreword
When Mackay and Evans returned to Spanish St. Louis in 1797, they were hailed as and#147;the two most illustrious travelers in the northern parts of this continent.and#8221; Ironically, though the findings of Mackay and Evans were responsible for much of the early success of Lewis and Clark in their expedition, the adulation that followed Lewis and Clarkand#8217;s successful return completely eclipsed Mackay and Evansand#8217;s reputations. In Prologue to Lewis and Clark, W. Raymond Wood narrates the history of this long-forgotten but important expedition up the Missouri River.
The Mackay and Evans expedition was more than an exploratory mission. It was the last effort by Spain to gain control over the Missouri River basin in the decade before the United States purchased the Louisiana territory. In that respect, it failed. But the expedition was successful as a journey of exploration. The maps and documents they created later provided the Lewis and Clark expedition with invaluable information for its first full year.
Consolidating a collection of eighteen contemporary documents relating to the Mackay and Evans expedition as well as his own research and analysis, Wood provides an in-depth examination of the expeditionand#8217;s background, execution, and final results.
Volume 79 in the American Exploration and Travel Series
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Synopsis
History of Mackay and Evans's long-forgotten but important 1795-1796 expedition up the Missouri River, which paved the way for Lewis and Clark's success.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-226) and index.
About the Author
W. Raymond Wood is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has authored or edited numerous articles and books on western American history and archaeology, including
Prologue to Lewis and Clark: The Mackay and Evans Expedition, also published by the University of Oklahoma Press.
James P. Ronda, H. G. Barnard Professor of History, emeritus, University of Tulsa, is widely recognized for his extensive scholarship on the Lewis and Clark expedition, including the pathbreaking Lewis and Clark Among the Indians. He is also a distinguished historian of the early American fur trade, Astoria and Empire. Professor Rondaand#8217;s recent publications include The West the Railroads Made.