Exploring Lewis and Clark: Reflections on Men and Wilderness

by Thomas P. Slaughter

Book Overview

Most Americans know that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led our nation's first trans-continental exploratory expedition, which was sent west by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. Their journey is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375400788
• ISBN13: 9780375400780
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 231 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Lewis and Clark course #202

Exploring Lewis and Clark constitues Corps of Discovery #202. First complete course#101 by reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose or the Lewis and Clark Journals and then you are ready to delve into the incisive and provocative critique of the Corps of Discovery by this author. As a Native American and the author of Yazoo Mingo - The Journeys of Moncacht-Apé Across North America 1687-1700, I appreciated slaughter's informative and thoughtful chapter on Porvio, also known as Sacagawea. The(rest of the) story regarding York was also of great interest. Whether or not you agree with all of the author's conclusions this book will increase your knowledge and understanding of the Courageous Captains and their Corps of Discovery.

Required Reading

To me, this book ranks near the top of the list with Abert Furtwangler's "Acts of Discovery" (ISBN 0252063066) and Lavender's "The Way To The Western Sea" (ISBN 0803280033), though more iconoclastic than either of those. (And to be clear, my list is of books on Lewis and Clark that are worth reading.)Slaughter's book, particularly, can give one a much needed perspective on the expedition. All too often, historical events like this are treated with a overabundance of hero-worship and, even worse, sentimentality. It's not that we don't need heros, but that we should remember that they are also human."Exploring.." deals with several touchy issues: slavery; indian relationships; hunting in the form of indiscrimimant killing, etc. Many, if not most, treatments of Lewis and Clark (Lewisandclark, Lewis N. Clark, etc) either gloss over or dismiss these. Such events as the vote on where to place Fort Clatsop are given a more realistic lighting in Slaughter book.Writing on these kind of topics can often, these days, take on a rather annoying smell of the PC, but "Exploring.." never has that odor. It may harm a few of your more cherished and warmly held myths about the Corps of Discovery, but this is history about real people. The event deserves more than a comic book or movie version simplistic approach, an antidote well supplied by "Exploring..".I suspect that some who read this book may find it too harsh on the exedition members. I hope not. We can still be impressed with their ability to survive and complete their mission, one that few of us today would be tough enough to handle. But we can also acquire a feeling that in a lot of respects, they were no better than most of us.I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's at least real.