Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American WestFrom the bestselling author of Band of Brothers and D-Day, the definitive book on Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the most momentous expedition in American history and one of the great adventure stories of all time. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River to the Rockies, over the mountains, down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean, and back. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, made the first map of the trans-Mississippi West, provided invaluable scientific data on the flora and fauna of the Louisiana Purchase territory, and established the American claim to Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Ambrose has pieced together previously unknown information about weather, terrain, and medical knowledge at the time to provide a vivid backdrop for the expedition. Lewis is supported by a rich variety of colorful characters, first of all Jefferson himself, whose interest in exploring and acquiring the American West went back thirty years. Next comes Clark, a rugged frontiersman whose love for Lewis matched Jefferson’s. There are numerous Indian chiefs, and Sacagawea, the Indian girl who accompanied the expedition, along with the French-Indian hunter Drouillard, the great naturalists of Philadelphia, the French and Spanish fur traders of St. Louis, John Quincy Adams, and many more leading political, scientific, and military figures of the turn of the century. High adventure, high politics, suspense, drama, and diplomacy combine with high romance and personal tragedy to make this outstanding work of scholarship as readable as a novel. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - Jared_Runck - LibraryThingIt has been over a decade since I’ve read Ambrose’s Band of Brothers, which still resides in my “Top 5 Books Ever Read” list. This book has been on my to-read list for almost as long, partly because I ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - ffifield - LibraryThingIt seems as much a biography of Merriwether Lewis as it was a story of the expedition. Some parts are in great detail and other parts of the trip seem to be glossed over. Read full review
Contents
| 13 | |
| 30 | |
| 51 | |
| 70 | |
| 93 | |
Down the Ohio | 108 |
Up the Mississippi to Winter Camp | 122 |
Up the Missouri | 137 |
Over the Continental Divide | 268 |
The | 284 |
Down the Columbia | 302 |
Fort Clatsop | 317 |
The | 340 |
Return to the Nez Perce | 353 |
The Marias Exploration | 380 |
The Last Leg | 396 |
Entering Indian Country | 152 |
Encounter with the Sioux | 165 |
To the Mandans | 181 |
Report from Fort Mandan | 204 |
From Marias River to the Great Falls | 232 |
Looking for the Shoshones | 251 |
Washington | 422 |
Virginia | 439 |
St Louis | 460 |
Aftermath | 476 |
MAPS | 515 |
Other editions - View all
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson and the Opening Stephen E. Ambrose Limited preview - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
American Arikaras army arrived August Bates Bitterroot Blackfeet boat British buffalo Cameahwait camp canoes Capt Captain Lewis Charbonneau chiefs Chouteau Clark wrote Clatsop Columbia command Corps of Discovery Creek Cruzatte Dearborn described Drouillard expedition exploration falls Federalists fork Fort Clatsop Fort Mandan fur trade Gary Moulton gave Hidatsas hope horses hundred hunters hunting Indians Jefferson journal July keelboat killed knew land later letter Lewis and Clark Lewis wrote Lewis's lived Lolo Trail Louis Mandan villages March meat Meriwether Lewis miles Mississippi Missouri River morning mountains mouth never Nez Perce night North West Company officers Ohio Osage Pacific party passed Philadelphia pirogue Plains portage president Private purchase rifles Rocky route Sacagawea sent Sergeant Shoshones Sioux soldiers thought tion today's took tribes Twisted Hair Virginia voyage wanted warriors Washington whiskey winter young
