Undaunted Courage

Last winter I took a community education course on the Oregon Trail. We learned about our country's greatest military expedition lead by Meriwether Lewis and George Clark. The story is fascinating. Thomas Jefferson, one of my favorite presidents, had great foresight in sending this group of men outside of the country to explore the Louisiana Purchase, map it, catalog the flora and fauna, study the Native American tribes, and make peace with them. I will never know what they went through because just about all of earth has been explored, documented, and mapped already. Can you imagine being the first to see a grizzly bear or a sand-hill crane or a redwood tree? Lewis and Clark got to see all of this. Stephen Ambrose writes about their journey in excruciating detail which is why it took me a little over 6 months to read this book. Golly, the journey west was painfully long. I almost felt like I was pushing the boat against the current of the Missouri River myself. It's not that the book was boring, only tedious in detail. I brought it with me to Colorado and was determined to finish it out there. And I did. I sat on the porch with my chair pointed toward Long's Peak (btw-Long's Peak is featured on the Colorado quarter) and read in one sitting all the way from the Nez Pierce in Washington all the way to Philadelphia. Reading the return journey was a lot easier. The book features Meriwether - a complicated guy if there ever was one. He was a genius in some respects and inept in others. He favored equality among the races yet misogynistic. He wouldn't give Sacajawea an ounce of credit even though she saved his sorry a$$ more than once. Clark, on the other hand, did recognize that Sacajawea was a lifesaver on the mission but insisted that his black slave not be compensated like everyone else on the journey and not be set free. Together they managed to make a success of their mission. I recommend this book if you have the time and the interest in the Corp of Discovery.