Undaunted CouragePremier Digital Publishing, 2011 In this sweeping adventure story, Stephen E. Ambrose, the bestselling author of D-Day, presents the definitive account of one of the most momentous journeys in American history. Ambrose follows the Lewis and Clark Expedition from Thomas Jefferson's hope of finding a waterway to the Pacific, through the heart-stopping moments of the actual trip, to Lewis' lonely demise on the Natchez Trace. Along the way, Ambrose shows us the American West as Lewis saw it -- wild, awsome, and pristinely beautiful. Undaunted Courage is a stunningly told action tale that will delight readers for generations. 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 was the perfect choice. He endured incredible hardships and saw incredible sights, including vast herds of buffalo and Indian tribes that had had no previous contact with white men. He 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 colorful and realistic backdrop for the expedition. Lewis saw the North American continent before any other white man; Ambrose describes in detail native peoples, weather, landscape, science, everything the expedition encountered along the way, through Lewis's eyes. 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. This is a book about a hero. This is a book about national unity. But it is also a tragedy. When Lewis returned to Washington in the fall of 1806, he was a national hero. But for Lewis, the expedition was a failure. Jefferson had hoped to find an all-water route to the Pacific with a short hop over the Rockies-Lewis discovered there was no such passage. Jefferson hoped the Louisiana Purchase would provide endless land to support farming-but Lewis discovered that the Great Plains were too dry. Jefferson hoped there was a river flowing from Canada into the Missouri-but Lewis reported there was no such river, and thus no U.S. claim to the Canadian prairie. Lewis discovered the Plains Indians were hostile and would block settlement and trade up the Missouri. Lewis took to drink, engaged in land speculation, piled up debts he could not pay, made jealous political enemies, and suffered severe depression. 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. |
Inhalt
INTRODUCTION | 1768 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 1769 |
Youth17741792 | 1802 |
The Presidents Secretary18011802 | 1809 |
The Origins of the Expedition17501802 | 1817 |
Preparing for the Expedition JanuaryJune 1803 | 10 |
Washington to Pittsburgh JuneAugust 1803 | 21 |
Down the Ohio SeptemberNovember 1803 | 31 |
Looking for the Shoshones July 15August 12 1805 | |
Over the Continental Divide August 13August 31 1805 | |
The Shoshones | |
Over the Bitterroots September 1October 6 1805 | |
Down the Columbia October 8December 7 1805 | |
Fort Clatsop December 8 1805March 23 1806 | |
The Clatsops and the Chinooks | |
Jefferson and the West 18041806 | |
Up the Mississippi to Winter Camp November 1803March 1804 | |
Ready to Depart AprilMay 21 1804 | |
Up the Missouri MayJuly 1804 | |
Entering Indian Country August 1804 | |
Encounter with the Sioux September 1804 | |
To the Mandans Fall 1804 | |
Winter at Fort Mandan December 21 1804March 21 1805 | |
Report from Fort Mandan March 22April 6 1805 | |
From Fort Mandan to Marias River April 7June 2 1805 | |
From Marias River to the Great Falls June 3June 20 1805 | |
The Great Portage June 16July 14 1805 | |
Return to the Nez Percé March 23June 9 1806 | |
The Lolo Trail June 10July 2 1806 | |
The Marias Exploration July 3July 28 1806 | |
The Last Leg July 29September 22 1806 | |
Reporting to the President September 23December 31 1806 | |
Washington JanuaryMarch 1807 | |
Philadelphia AprilJuly 1807 | |
St Louis MarchDecember 1808 | |
Last Voyage September 3October 11 1809 | |
NOTES | |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of ... Stephen E. Ambrose Keine Leseprobe verfügbar - 1997 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
American Arikaras army Bates Bitterroot Blackfeet boat British buffalo Cameahwait camp canoes Capt Charbonneau chiefs Chinookan Chouteau Clark Expedition Clark wrote Clatsop Columbia command Corps of Discovery Cruzatte Dearborn described Donald Jackson Drouillard exploration Federalists fork Fort Clatsop Fort Mandan fur trade Gary Moulton gave Hidatsas horses hundred hunters hunting Ibid Illinois Press Indians journal July keelboat killed knew land letter Lewis and Clark Lewis wrote Lewis's lived Lolo Trail Louis March meat Meriwether Lewis miles Mississippi Missouri River Monticello morning mountains mouth never Nez Percé night North West Company officers Ohio Osage Pacific party passed Philadelphia pirogue Plains portage president Private Purchase rifles Rocky Ronda route Sacagawea sent Sergeant Shoshones Sioux soldiers Thomas Jefferson thought today's told took tribes Twisted Hair Virginia voyage wanted warriors Washington whiskey winter young