What is a cataplasm, and what do you do with one? Would you be insulted if someone called you, "argillaceous?" Would you want someone to give you a clyster? Would you eat wappato? These are all words that were familiar to Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their companions, and were penned in their journals, but are less commonly used and understood today.
To the rescue comes independent lexicographer and contributor to several Oxford dictionaries, Alan H. Hartley, who hopes to help modern readers better understand the language of the time. The result of five years of research on the history, people, and physical world of the expedition, the Lewis and Clark Lexicon of Discovery features over 1,100 entries and more than 2,000 illustrative quotations, as well as considerable background material on the English (and other languages) of the expedition.
