The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Vo lume 2: v. 2 (The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition: August 30, 1803-August 24, 1804) - Hardcover

When the "Atlas of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" appeared in 1983, critics hailed it as a publishing landmark. This eagerly awaited second volume of the new "Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" begins the actual journals of those explorers whose epic expedition still enthralls Americans. Instructed by President Jefferson to keep meticulous records bearing on the geography, ethnology, and natural history of the trans-Mississippi West, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and four of their men filled hundreds of notebook pages with observations during their expedition of 1804-6. The result was in is a national treasure: a complete look at the Great Plains, the Rockies, and the Pacific Northwest, reported by men who were intelligent and well-prepared, at a time when almost nothing was known about those regions so newly acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Volume 2 includes Lewis' and Clark's journals for the period from August 1803, when Lewis left Pittsburgh to join Clark farther down the Ohio River, to August 1804, when the Corps of Discovery camped near the Vermillion River in present South Dakota. The general introduction by Gary E. Moulton discusses the history of the expedition, the journal-keeping methods of Lewis and Clark, and the editing and publishing history of the journals from the time of Lewis and Clark's return. Superseding the last edition published early in this century, the current edition brings together new materials discovered since then. It greatly expands and updates the annotation to take account of the most recent scholarship on the many subjects touched on by the journals. Gary E. Moulton, associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is the author of "John Ross: Cherokee Chief" (1978) and editor of "The Papers of Chief John Ross" (1985). Praise from the experts for the University of Nebraska Press' new edition of "The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition": "The project is certainly one of the monumentally important undertakings, not only in Western history, but in American cultural history in general. The scholarship involved is meticulous and extremely impressive. This is a work that will be admired by scholars, and it should be of interest to a broad range of informed general readers." (William H. Goetzmann, Stiles Professor of American Studies, University of Texas at Austin). "The edition of the journals being edited by Gary Moulton adds many new insights and an immense amount of new material for a better understanding and appreciation of the great expedition. Anyone interested in Lewis and Clark will find it invaluable." (Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., Editor). "This new edition of the journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition is a necessity." (John Logan Allen, Professor of Geography, University of Connecticut). "The journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition are the single most important account of early western American exploration. Their interest to specialist and lay reader alike is perennial." (W. Raymond Wood, Professor of Anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia).