An indispensable guide to our nation's epic adventure The years 2003-2006 mark the bicentennial of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's famous transcontinental journey between the Missouri and the Columbia River systems. They never did find the fabled Northwest Passage, but over twenty-eight months, the Corps of Discovery traveled more than eight thousand miles through eleven future states, named scores of places and rivers, met with many Native American tribes, and wrote the first descriptions of heretofore unknown plants and animals. By the end of their trip, Lewis and Clark had navigated and named two thirds of the American continent. They may have had undaunted courage, but the sheer volume of information related to their expedition can be more than a little daunting to the armchair historian. Written by two highly regarded Lewis and Clark experts, this book contains over five hundred lively and fascinating entries on everything from the members of the expedition and the places they went to the weapons and tools, trade goods, and medicines they carried, along with the food and amusements that sustained them. Highly readable and informative, it's the perfect introduction for the Lewis and Clark novice, and the comprehensive guide no buff will want to be without. "This handy volume, timed for publication as the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition opens, has the virtue of teaching the student while helpfully reminding the scholar. " - Publishers Weekly

More than two hundred years later, the voyage of discovery with its outsized characters, geographic marvels, and wondrous moments of adventure and mystery continues to draw us along the Lewis and Clark Trail. Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs first fell under the trail s spell at sixteen and has been following in Lewis and Clark s path ever since. In essays historical and personal, she revisits the Lewis and Clark Trail and its famous people, landmarks, and events, exploring questions the expedition continues to raise, such as, What really motivated Thomas Jefferson to send out his agents of discovery? What mutinous expressions were uttered? What happened to the dog? Why did Meriwether Lewis end his own life? In the resulting trip through history, Tubbs recounts her travels along the trail by foot, Volkswagen bus, and canoe at every turn renewing the American experience inscribed by Lewis and Clark.

Few events in American history have shaped the nation like the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It opened the American West for settlement. It redrew the map of the United States. It identified an array of native peoples, spectacular places, fascinating creatures, and extraordinary flora unknown in "civilized" America. It defined the American nation as a land stretching from coast to coast-and it launched the spread of population in a mighty frontier migration unlike anything ever witnessed in America before or since. Lewis and Clark on the Trail of Discovery contains 19 chapters, detailing the expedition chronologically. A "museum in a book," this fascinating volume contains re-creations of original documents such as diary entries, letters, maps, and sketches-all meticulously reproduced so that the reader can actually handle and examine them. Among the documents included in the book are: The actual letter of credit Jefferson wrote to Lewis committing the U.S. government to pay for the expedition. The code Thomas Jefferson provided to Lewis for sending secret messages. Clark's sketch of the technique some Indians used to flatten their heads, a sign of prestige. Clark's letter of gratitude to Sacagawea, a Shoshone teenager who helped the expedition. A newspaper account of the expedition's return to St. Louis.

Describes the journey of Lewis and Clark through the western United States, focusing on the plants they cataloged, their uses for food and medicine, and the plant lore of Native American people.

This fascinating new book follows Lewis and Clark and the members of their 1804 Corps of Discovery expedition on their famous trek to chart the American West, describing the effects of their encounters with various Native nations along the way. Spectacular illustrations, photographs, and a full-color map of their routes allow young readers to follow in their footsteps. An authentic recipe from life on the trail is included.

Seaman, Meriwether Lewis's Newfoundland dog, describes Lewis and Clark's expedition, which he accompanied from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.