T.E. W. (terez93) reviewed As Far as the Eye Can Reach: Lewis and Clark's Westward Quest on + 323 more book reviews
This short volume chronicles the expeditions of Captain Meriwether Lewis and friend William Clark, who, with about 40 other voyagers, only ONE of whom died during the entire expedition, set out from Camp Wood, IL, in May, 1804, to explore the vast territory west of the Mississippi River, after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, under then-president Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson himself was something of an explorer, and probably envied the two men somewhat, in that had he been younger he would have liked to have gone himself. The venture occurred from May, 1804, to September, 1806.
France sold the vast territory to the fledgling United States in 1803, after some negotiating, to raise money for its military efforts. This expanse of land included some 530 MILLION acres, the purchase of which effectively doubling the size of the US overnight. This area was comprised of what is now the ENTIRE states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and large swaths of Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wyoming and most of Montana, as well as parts of now-Northern Texas and Louisiana. The land was sold for a paltry $15 million, or about 3 cents per acre, which would be only about $337 million in 2021 dollars, or .64 cents per acre (!). That was arguably the greatest deal in US history - with the purchase of Manhattan Island coming in a close second.
The stated goal of the expedition was to find the most direct and accessible water communication and route to the Pacific Ocean, but Jefferson also wanted to declare sovereignty over the new territory, which was occupied by various indigenous tribes. He stated that wanted to establish friendly relations with them rather than resort to outright conquest, which, at the time, would have been extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, so the expedition was ordered to attempt to maintain good terms with the native peoples who inhabited the large expense of uncharted territory. To that end, the expedition was also ordered to report the whereabouts, military capabilities, numbers and activities of the various peoples they encountered. Scientific research was secondary but not unimportant.
Many of the tribes had already had encounters with Europeans, specifically French and British fur trappers and traders, in their isolated communities, so the indigenous peoples were for the most part not hostile to the expedition. Lewis and Clark frequently enlisted their assistance in meeting their goal of reaching the Pacific ocean, which they likely would not have accomplished without their aid.
The Discovery Corps did reach their objective, relying on native people to lead them overland from the upper Missouri River to the Columbia River, which met with the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, it was discovered that there was not a contiguous waterway to the Pacific. This momentous effort, however, which lasted nearly two and a half years, was instrumental in establishing the foothold of the US in the newly-acquired territory and set the stage for the opening of the West.
Notable travelers also included Clark's black slave, York, about whom little is known but much has been made in recent years (he was the first black man that many of the indigenous peoples they encountered had ever seen), and, more famously, Sacajawea (1788-1812), a Shoshone woman who, at about age 12, was taken captive by the Hidatsa tribe. She was given in marriage at age 13 to Toussaint Charbonneau, a Quebcois trapper (who may have purchased her), who also had another "wife" girl with him, who is not often mentioned. Sacajawea, along with her husband, who had been hired by Lewis and Clark to act as a guide, accompanied the expedition, serving as translators and sometimes guides. She notably gave birth on the journey, and carried her baby on her back for hundreds of miles.
Sacajawea was of significant assistance in helping the expedition barter with the Shoshone for horses and to hire guides to lead them over the formidable Rocky Mountains. She is also credited with leading Lewis and Clark through the Yellowstone River basin, in the area now known as Bozeman Pass, which was later chosen as the route for the Northern Pacific Railway to cross the continental divide, proving the immeasurable value of local knowledge by native peoples. She and her husband later moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1809, and sent their son Jean-Baptiste to the St. Louis Academy boarding school.
It is unclear when Sacajawea died: most reports state that it was in 1812, of an illness, while Charbonneau lived to age 76. Another oral tradition, which is probably fable, claims that she left her husband (although having just had another baby, which apparently did not survive infancy, that is improbable) and somehow crossed the Great Plains to marry into the Comanche tribe, later returning to the Shoshone in Wyoming and dying in 1884, but there is no independent evidence to verify the claim.
Jean-Baptiste also lived a notable life of adventure, traveling to Europe at age 18 after meeting a German duke, Wilhelm of Wurttemberg. He lived there for six years, and learned four European languages, but returned to the US in 1829 and lived as a frontiersman. He famously served as a guide for the Mormon Battalion in 1846, and later became a magistrate for Mission San Luis Rey and then a hotel clerk in Auburn, CA during the Gold Rush. He himself ventured out to Montana to seek his fortune in the search for gold, but died of pneumonia shortly after at the age of 61.
The expeditions of Lewis and Clark are still well-known today. The book is short, but is fairly up to date, being one of the more recent ones to be published, or, at least, heavily revised. It draws on the journals and documents from the expedition (many of which were tragically lost when a canoe overturned, spilling the contents into the river, of which only a few were recovered), which also offers additional opportunity for readers and students to explore on their own.
France sold the vast territory to the fledgling United States in 1803, after some negotiating, to raise money for its military efforts. This expanse of land included some 530 MILLION acres, the purchase of which effectively doubling the size of the US overnight. This area was comprised of what is now the ENTIRE states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and large swaths of Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wyoming and most of Montana, as well as parts of now-Northern Texas and Louisiana. The land was sold for a paltry $15 million, or about 3 cents per acre, which would be only about $337 million in 2021 dollars, or .64 cents per acre (!). That was arguably the greatest deal in US history - with the purchase of Manhattan Island coming in a close second.
The stated goal of the expedition was to find the most direct and accessible water communication and route to the Pacific Ocean, but Jefferson also wanted to declare sovereignty over the new territory, which was occupied by various indigenous tribes. He stated that wanted to establish friendly relations with them rather than resort to outright conquest, which, at the time, would have been extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, so the expedition was ordered to attempt to maintain good terms with the native peoples who inhabited the large expense of uncharted territory. To that end, the expedition was also ordered to report the whereabouts, military capabilities, numbers and activities of the various peoples they encountered. Scientific research was secondary but not unimportant.
Many of the tribes had already had encounters with Europeans, specifically French and British fur trappers and traders, in their isolated communities, so the indigenous peoples were for the most part not hostile to the expedition. Lewis and Clark frequently enlisted their assistance in meeting their goal of reaching the Pacific ocean, which they likely would not have accomplished without their aid.
The Discovery Corps did reach their objective, relying on native people to lead them overland from the upper Missouri River to the Columbia River, which met with the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, it was discovered that there was not a contiguous waterway to the Pacific. This momentous effort, however, which lasted nearly two and a half years, was instrumental in establishing the foothold of the US in the newly-acquired territory and set the stage for the opening of the West.
Notable travelers also included Clark's black slave, York, about whom little is known but much has been made in recent years (he was the first black man that many of the indigenous peoples they encountered had ever seen), and, more famously, Sacajawea (1788-1812), a Shoshone woman who, at about age 12, was taken captive by the Hidatsa tribe. She was given in marriage at age 13 to Toussaint Charbonneau, a Quebcois trapper (who may have purchased her), who also had another "wife" girl with him, who is not often mentioned. Sacajawea, along with her husband, who had been hired by Lewis and Clark to act as a guide, accompanied the expedition, serving as translators and sometimes guides. She notably gave birth on the journey, and carried her baby on her back for hundreds of miles.
Sacajawea was of significant assistance in helping the expedition barter with the Shoshone for horses and to hire guides to lead them over the formidable Rocky Mountains. She is also credited with leading Lewis and Clark through the Yellowstone River basin, in the area now known as Bozeman Pass, which was later chosen as the route for the Northern Pacific Railway to cross the continental divide, proving the immeasurable value of local knowledge by native peoples. She and her husband later moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1809, and sent their son Jean-Baptiste to the St. Louis Academy boarding school.
It is unclear when Sacajawea died: most reports state that it was in 1812, of an illness, while Charbonneau lived to age 76. Another oral tradition, which is probably fable, claims that she left her husband (although having just had another baby, which apparently did not survive infancy, that is improbable) and somehow crossed the Great Plains to marry into the Comanche tribe, later returning to the Shoshone in Wyoming and dying in 1884, but there is no independent evidence to verify the claim.
Jean-Baptiste also lived a notable life of adventure, traveling to Europe at age 18 after meeting a German duke, Wilhelm of Wurttemberg. He lived there for six years, and learned four European languages, but returned to the US in 1829 and lived as a frontiersman. He famously served as a guide for the Mormon Battalion in 1846, and later became a magistrate for Mission San Luis Rey and then a hotel clerk in Auburn, CA during the Gold Rush. He himself ventured out to Montana to seek his fortune in the search for gold, but died of pneumonia shortly after at the age of 61.
The expeditions of Lewis and Clark are still well-known today. The book is short, but is fairly up to date, being one of the more recent ones to be published, or, at least, heavily revised. It draws on the journals and documents from the expedition (many of which were tragically lost when a canoe overturned, spilling the contents into the river, of which only a few were recovered), which also offers additional opportunity for readers and students to explore on their own.
