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.

When the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed a continent in 1803 to 1806, they started out in U.S. Army uniforms, which gradually had to be replaced with simple leather garments. For parts of those uniforms, only a single drawing, pattern, or example survives. Historian Moore and artist Haynes have researched archives and museums to locate and verify what the men wore, and Haynes has painted and sketched the clothing in scenes of the trip. Also included are Indian styles the men adopted, and the wardrobes of the Creole interpreters and the French boatmen. Weapons and accessories round out this complete record of what the expedition wore or carried--and why. A great reference for artists, living history performers, museums, and military historians.

This edition contains no advertising, and is stitch-bound. It covers the whole story of the expedition, beginning east of the Mississippi River as Thomas Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis planned, and Lewis trained and traveled. Then follows Lewis and Clark and company to the Pacific and back to St. Louis. Accessible history text combines with tourism information on following their path today, and maps combine both then and now.

It has been 200 years since their epic trek across Western America, yet Lewis and Clark still evoke strong emotions. For good or ill, the captains redefined America's sense of identity, and interest is at an all-time high in reexamining their expedition and its effects. Timed for publication amid the four-year bicentennial celebration of their journey, this book retraces the path taken by Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery from 1804 to 1806. The author draws on the explorers’ journals and period illustrations for historical context, and complements this material with modern color photography from the roads and rivers along the trail blazed by Lewis and Clark. Readers will also hear from history enthusiasts who are enamored by the explorers’ feats as well as from those who view Lewis and Clark as villains.

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

Chronicles the epic journey of Lewis and Clark across uncharted wilderness to the Pacific Ocean, in a narrative that incorporates entries from the explorers' journals and a new preliminary essay on making a filmed recreation.