Above all else this is the story of the incredibly difficult journey west made by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The story is told mostly through the eyes of the less famous members of the trip, the scouts and hunters. Reading this book I was many times reminded of some of the excellent Westerns by Larry McMurtry...Cleary's book is funny, sad, always interesting, at times even sexy, and as a good novel does, it keeps you reading and turning pages.