List Books » Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West
Authors: Stephen E. Ambrose, Cotter Smith
ISBN-13: 9780743508087, ISBN-10: 0743508084
Format: Compact Disc
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Date Published: June 2001
Edition: Abridged, 4 CDs, 4 hrs. 30 min.
An historian whose books prompted America to regard its war veterans with newfound reverence, Stephen E. Ambrose was as prolific as he was passionate about his country. His bestsellers chronicled our nation s critical battles and achievements, from his seminal war works D-Day and Band of Brothers to his fitting last love letter To America.
In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River, across the forbidding Rockies, and -- by way of the Snake and mighty Columbia -- down to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, endured incredible hardships and witnessed astounding sights. With great perseverance, they worked their way into an unexplored West and when they returned two years later, they had long since been given up for dead.
Lewis is supported by a variety of colorful characters: Jefferson and his vision of the West; Clark, the artist and map-maker; and Lewis -- the enigma, who led brilliantly but considered the mission a failure. After suffering several periods of depression -- and despite his status as national hero -- Lewis died mysteriously, apparently by his own hand.
Ambrose has written prolifically about men who were larger than life: Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Colonel Custer. Here he takes on half of the two-headed hero of American exploration: Meriwether Lewis. Ambrose, his wife and five children have followed the footsteps of the Lewis and Clark expedition for 20 summers, in the course of which the explorer has become a friend of the Ambrose family; the author's affection shines through this narrative. Meriwether Lewis, as secretary to Thomas Jefferson and living in the White House for two years, got his education by being apprenticed to a great man. Their friendship is at the center of this account. Jefferson hand-picked Lewis for the great cross-country trek, and Lewis in turn picked William Clark to accompany him. The two men shook hands in Clarksville, Ohio, on October 14, 1803, then launched their expedition. The journals of the expedition, most written by Clark, are one of the treasures of American history. Here we learn that the vital boat is behind schedule; the boat builder is always drunk, but he's the only one available. Lewis acts as surveyor, builder and temperance officer in his effort to get his boat into the river. Alcohol continues to cause him problems both with the men of his expedition and later, after his triumphant return, in his own life, which ended in suicide at the age of 35. Without adding a great deal to existing accounts, Ambrose uses his skill with detail and atmosphere to dust off an icon and put him back on the trail west. History Book Club main selection; BOMC split selection; QPB alternate
Introduction | 13 | |
Acknowledgments | 17 | |
1 | Youth 1774-1792 | 19 |
2 | Planter 1792-1794 | 30 |
3 | Soldier 1794-1800 | 38 |
4 | Thomas Jefferson's America 1801 | 51 |
5 | The President's Secretary 1801-1802 | 59 |
6 | The Origins of the Expedition 1750-1802 | 68 |
7 | Preparing for the Expedition: January-June 1803 | 80 |
8 | Washington to Pittsburgh: June-August 1803 | 93 |
9 | Down the Ohio: September-November 1803 | 108 |
10 | Up the Mississippi to Winter Camp: November 1803-March 1804 | 121 |
11 | Ready to Depart: April-May 21, 1804 | 133 |
12 | Up the Missouri: May-July 1804 | 140 |
13 | Entering Indian Country: August 1804 | 152 |
14 | Encounter with the Sioux: September 1804 | 165 |
15 | To the Mandans: Fall 1804 | 176 |
16 | Winter at Fort Mandan: December 21, 1804-March 21, 1805 | 191 |
17 | Report from Fort Mandan: March 22-April 6, 1805 | 202 |
18 | From Fort Mandan to Marias River: April 7-June 2, 1805 | 211 |
19 | From Marias River to the Great Falls: June 3-June 20, 1805 | 230 |
20 | The Great Portage: June 16-July 14, 1805 | 241 |
21 | Looking for the Shoshones: July 15-August 12, 1805 | 251 |
22 | Over the Continental Divide: August 13-August 31, 1805 | 268 |
23 | Lewis as Ethnographer: The Shoshones | 284 |
24 | Over the Bitterroots: September 1-October 6, 1805 | 289 |
25 | Down the Columbia: October 8-December 7, 1805 | 302 |
26 | Fort Clatsop: December 8, 1805-March 23, 1806 | 318 |
27 | Lewis as Ethnographer: The Clatsops and the Chinooks | 337 |
28 | Jefferson and the West: 1804-1806 | 342 |
29 | Return to the Nez Perce: March 23-June 9, 1806 | 353 |
30 | The Lolo Trail: June 10-July 2, 1806 | 369 |
31 | The Marias Exploration: July 3-July 28, 1806 | 379 |
32 | The Last Leg: July 29-September 22, 1806 | 395 |
33 | Reporting to the President: September 23-December 31, 1806 | 406 |
34 | Washington: January-March 1807 | 422 |
35 | Philadelphia: April-July 1807 | 431 |
36 | Virginia: August 1806-March 1807 | 439 |
37 | St. Louis: March-December 1808 | 445 |
38 | St. Louis: January-August 1809 | 460 |
39 | Last Voyage: September 3-October 11, 1809 | 471 |
40 | Aftermath | 476 |
Notes | 485 | |
Bibliography | 503 | |
Index | 507 |