Undertaken from 1804 to 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's transcontinental journey of exploration remains one of the milestones of natural history. Mandated by President Thomas Jefferson, who instructed Lewis and Clark to keep careful scientific notes on what they found along the Missouri River and to send specimens of animal and plant life back to Washington at every opportunity, the expedition afforded Americans a glimpse of such exotic creatures as bison, coyotes, and prairie dogs; it also gave them a glimpse of the nation's future at the dawn of westward expansion.
In this guidebook, Daniel Botkin retraces the Lewis and Clark voyage of discovery along the Missouri, inviting his readers to do the same--for, he writes,
In this information age, we rarely obtain the information we need most about ourselves, our civilization, and our surroundings. Over and over again I have discovered that Lewis and Clark, two centuries ago, put a yardstick or sextant to things that we no longer seek to pace or measure.
Along the way he visits the great prehistoric Indian mounds of Illinois, near the expedition's starting point; the Platte River, "one of the few major rivers of America that has not been greatly altered by channelization and dams; Yellowstone National Park; and national wildlife refuges in Nebraska, Montana, and other Western states. Botkin's guidebook suffers at times from encyclopedic dryness, but it remains a useful glove-compartment companion for anyone seeking to follow Lewis and Clark's passage. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
From the author of Our Natural History: The Lessons of Lewis and Clark, and with an introduction from Stephen E. Ambrose, author of the New York Times bestseller, Undaunted Courage Afterward by Robert Redford, and an Afterward by Robert Redford.
The 1804-1806 Missouri River journey of Lewis and Clark in search of an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean was the most important expedition in American history. When it was finished, the country and the world were forever changed.
Now, renowned biologist and author Daniel B. Botkin retraces the Missouri River passage of that historic journey in the modern world by following the route of Lewis and Clark, guiding readers to nearly 50 legendary sites of historical and environmental importance--with driving directions all the way from the river banks of St. Louis to the river's headwaters in Montana--in a lively, compelling book that brings this voyage of discovery to life.
* Illustrated throughout.
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