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On Earth's Remotest Bounds: Year One: Blood and Water

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In 1819 an American expeditionary force was sent out to challenge a vast wilderness. The force was the Missouri Expedition, the first major expedition to follow in the trail opened by Lewis and Clark fifteen years before. Not only was their endeavor the first of its kind for America, utilizing a fleet of newly invented steamboats to carry over a thousand soldiers of the 6th Infantry and 1st Rifle Regiments over 650 miles up the untamed Missouri, but its scientific arm, under Stephen Long, discovered hundreds of new species.
This book details the first, horrendous year of that expedition, from July 4 of 1819 to July 4 of 1820. It is told mainly from the viewpoint of Rifle Surgeon John Gale whose real journal entries serve as a backbone for the narrative.
The first year of the expedition sees the army, already wearied by a harsh winter in the wilderness, battling upward against punishing currents and winds, to reach Council Bluffs, where it will build its first fort. Boats are sunk by weather and snags. Men drown. The officers are at odds and face mutiny. But on finally reaching the Bluff, their travails just begin!
The exhausted men must quickly build a fort to shelter against coming winter. They fight desperately to survive against the worst weather in a lifetime's memory and a vicious scurvy epidemic that affects all, levels more than half the garrison, and finally kills over two hundred men. Fear of the surrounding Indian tribes and the British presence is the least of their worries.
With spring then comes a massive flood, devastating their first fort. But they persevere, moving to the cliff's top and building a new, permanent fort, Fort Atkinson, on the site chosen by Lewis and Clark.
The reconstructed fortress, a gem of early Nebraska and Missouri River history, still stands upon that bluff for visitors to see, and the story of the brave men who lived and died there (and are still buried there) is one all Nebraskans, and all Americans, should know.

Not since Steven Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" has a historical novel kept me spellbound so consistently. Having a fair familiarity with the history of Fort Atkinson on the Missouri, I can say that Mr. Flint has done his research and turned a little known but fascinating period of American's development into a must-read for history buffs and fans of adventure alike. For me, the engaging quality of this book is only enhanced by the knowledge that events portrayed really happened!

Flint starts with the journals of surgeon Gale (who actually served at Fort Atkinson during its years as the nation's largest military post) and fleshes out the details therein, creating an epic portrayal of life on the edge of a fledgling nation. "On Earth's Remotest Bounds: Year One: Blood and Water" should be at the top of the list for anyone interested in early American life or simply looking for a story of high adventure. I'm eagerly looking foreword to the next installment of Flint's series.