Lewis and Clark's Expedition from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean was the first governmental exploration of the "Great West." The history of this undertaking is the personal narrative and official report of the first white men who crossed the continent between and British and Spanish possessions.

Many aspects of the Corps of Discovery's epic journey across the United States and back are well known- how President Thomas Jefferson gave a mandate to Meriwether Lewis in 1803 to explore the continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean; how Lewis chose his good friend William Clark to be his companion in leadership; how Sacagawea, a young Native American mother with a newborn child, joined the expedition by chance and was instrumental to its success; how everyone had long since assumed the explorers were dead by the time they retuned in the fall of 1806. But do you know the whole story? It Happened on the Lewis and Clark Expedition gives readers inside information on the Corps of Discovery's awesome feats and accomplishments as they traveled into the unknown and mapped a route across the vast western territory of the United States. Did you know that the expedition had a deserter during its early days? That before the arrival of Lewis and a band of men, the Shoshone had never seen whites: or that Seaman, the giant Newfoundland who was part of the team and an honored pet, made it all the way to the Pacific and back? Enjoy these stories and more as author Erin H. Turner, in an easy-to-read style that is entertaining and informative, recounts captivating moments from our nation's early history.

One of the greatest challenges faced by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis on their 1804?6 Corps of Discovery expedition was that of medical emergencies on the trail. Without an attending physician, even routine ailments and injuries could have tragic consequences for the expedition?s success and the safety of its members. Of these dangers, the most insidious and potentially devastating was the slow, painful, and oftentimes fatal ravage of venereal disease. ø Physician Thomas P. Lowry delves into the world of nineteenth-century medicine, uncovering the expedition?s very real fear of venereal disease. Lewis and Clark knew they were unlikely to prevent their men from forming sexual liaisons on the trail, so they prepared for the consequences of encounters with potentially infected people, as well as the consequences of preexisting disease, by stocking themselves with medicine and the latest scientific knowledge from the best minds in America. Lewis and Clark?s expedition encountered Native peoples who experienced venereal disease as a result of liaisons with French, British, Spanish, and Canadian travelers and had their own methods for curing its victims, or at least for easing the pain it inflicted. ø Lowry?s careful study of the explorers? journals sheds new light on this neglected aspect of the expedition, showing in detail how sex and venereal disease affected the men and their mission, and describes how diverse peoples faced a common threat with the best knowledge and tools at their disposal.

When Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the "Corp of Discovery" left St. Louis, Missouri, on May 21, 1804, their mission was to explore the vast, unknown territory acquired a year earlier in the Louisiana Purchase. The travelers hoped to find a waterway that crossed the western half of the United States. They didn't. However, young readers will love this true-life adventure tale of the two-year journey that finally brought the explorers to the Pacific Ocean.

ANNOTATION: In Discovering Lewis and Clark from the Air, aerial photographer Jim Wark and Lewis and Clark scholar Joseph A. Mussulman offer a fascinating new perspective on the Corps' historic journey. From Monticello in the east to Fort Clatsop on the Pacific coast, the wild continent the expedition crossed is revealed anew in breathtaking full-color photographs. Well-researched text accompanies each photo, including quotes from the explorers' journals. The view from above provides new information about the Corps' experience and stirs fresh wonder at their achievement.

David J. Peck?s Or Perish in the Attempt ingeniously combines the remarkable adventures of Lewis and Clark with an examination of the health problems their expedition faced. Formidable problems indeed, but the author patiently, expertly?and humorously?guides us through the medical travails of the famous journey, juxtaposing treatment then against remedy now. The result is a fascinating book that sheds new light not only on Lewis and Clark and the men and one remarkable woman (and her infant) who accompanied them along an eight-thousand-mile wilderness path but also on the practice of medicine in their time and place.

A straightforward account illustrated with maps, photographs, paintings, & diary entries.