The Journals Of The Lewis And Clark Expedition The Journal Of Patrick Gass May 14 1804 September 23 1806

The Lewis and Clark expedition is both one of the greatest geographical adventures undertaken by Americans and one of the best documented at the time. The University of Nebraska Press edition of the Journals of Lewis and Clark now reaches volume 10 of the projected 13 that will contain the complete record of the expedition. In order that the fullest record possible be kept of the expedition, captains Lewis and Clark required their sergeants to keep journals to compensate for possible loss of the captains' own accounts. The sergeants' accounts extend and corroborate the journals of Lewis and Clark and contribute to the full record of the expedition. Volume 10 contains the journal of expedition member Sergeant Patrick Gass. Gass was promoted to sergeant on the expedition to fill the place of the deceased Charles Floyd. His journal was subsequently published and proved quite popular: it went through six editions in six years. A skilled carpenter, Gass was almost certainly responsible for supervising the building of Forts Mandan and Clatsop; his records of those forts are particularly detailed and useful. Gass was to live until 1870, the last survivor of the expedition and the one who lived to see transcontinental communication fulfill the promise of the expedition. Gary E. Moulton is a professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and recipient of the J. Franklin Jameson Award of the American Historical Association for the editing of these journals.

The Lewis and Clark expedition is both one of the greatest geographical adventures undertaken by Americans and one of the best documented at the time. The University of Nebraska Press edition of the Journals of Lewis and Clark now reaches volume 10 of the projected 13 that will contain the complete record of the expedition. In order that the fullest record possible be kept of the expedition, captains Lewis and Clark required their sergeants to keep journals to compensate for possible loss of the captains' own accounts. The sergeants' accounts extend and corroborate the journals of Lewis and Clark and contribute to the full record of the expedition. Volume 10 contains the journal of expedition member Sergeant Patrick Gass. Gass was promoted to sergeant on the expedition to fill the place of the deceased Charles Floyd. His journal was subsequently published and proved quite popular: it went through six editions in six years. A skilled carpenter, Gass was almost certainly responsible for supervising the building of Forts Mandan and Clatsop; his records of those forts are particularly detailed and useful. Gass was to live until 1870, the last survivor of the expedition and the one who lived to see transcontinental communication fulfill the promise of the expedition. Gary E. Moulton is a professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and recipient of the J. Franklin Jameson Award of the American Historical Association for the editing of these journals.

Widely heralded as a lasting achievement, the University of Nebraska Press editions of the journals of Lewis and Clark now present volume 9 of the projected thirteen containing the complete record of the expedition. In order that the fullest record possible be kept of the journey, Captains Lewis and Clark required their sergeants to keep journals to guard against loss of the captains’ own accounts. The sergeants’ accounts extend and corroborate the journals of Lewis and Clark and contribute to the full record of the expedition. The bulk of this volume contains the fullest of the enlisted men’s records, the journal of John Ordway. As senior sergeant, Ordway was in command when the captains were absent from the main body of the expedition. He was also the sole member of the party never to miss a day in his journal; for several portions of the crossing, his is the only extant account. Ordway’s journal has never before been published with the other records of the venture. Charles Floyd’s journal is tragically short, ending with his death near present-day Sioux City, Iowa, on 20 August 1804. Floyd was the only member of the party to die en route, and his journal—adding several details absent from the captains’ records—indicates that the record of the journey is poorer for his loss.

Volume 8 of this prize-winning new edition continues the return of the expeditionary party, from their base at Camp Chopunnish on the Clearwater River in present Idaho back to St. Louis. At the outset, they are hindered by deep snow; but after returning to obtain help from Nez Perce guides they make rapid progress, so much so that at their Travelers’ Rest Camp near the site of today’s Missoula, Montana, the captains divide the party for separate explorations. Lewis heads east to the Missouri River, then north along the Marias to examine the northern extent of the Louisiana Purchase; Clark goes southeast toward the Yellowstone to explore that river and to make contact with local Indians. Lewis’s party suffers various forms of ill luck—grizzlies, horse thieves, and a violent encounter with a party of Piegan Blackfeet (the only trouble of this kind on the expedition)—and Lewis is wounded by one of his own men in a hunting accident. Clark’s group has its own troubles, although not as severe as those of Lewis and his men. The two parties eventually reunite on August 12 in present North Dakota and continue downriver. They revisit Indian tribes—Mandans, Hidatsas, Arikaras, and Yankton Sioux—they had met on the way out, and encounter traders and trappers going upriver. They arrive back in St. Louis to a triumphal welcome on September 23.

The University of Nebraska Press editions of The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition are widely heralded as a lasting achievement. In all, thirteen volumes are projected, which together will provide a complete record of the expedition. Volume 11 contains the journals of expedition member Joseph Whitehouse. His journals are the only surviving account written by an army private on the expedition, and he is one of the least known of the expedition party. Following the expedition, Whitehouse had a checkered army career, and he disappeared after 1817. His capabilities have been unfairly slighted by previous commentators, despite his narrative skill and evidence that he was a man of a lively and curious mind. His extensive journal entries contribute to our understanding of the epochal journey and of the unusual group of men who undertook one of the defining events in our history. The last part of his journals was not found until 1966; this is the first publication of the complete record of his account.

The first five volumes of the new edition of the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition have been widely heralded as a lasting achievement in the study of western exploration. The sixth volume begins on November 2, 1805, in the second year of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s epic journey. It covers the last leg of the party’s route from the Cascades of the Columbia River to the Pacific Coast and their stay at Fort Clatsop, near the river’s mouth, until the spring of 1806. Travel and exploration, described in the early part, were hampered by miserable weather, and the enforced idleness in winter quarters permitted detailed record keeping. The journals portray the party’s interaction with the Indians of the lower Columbia River and the coast, particularly the Chinooks, Clatsops, Wahkiakums, Cathlamets, and Tillamooks. No other volume in this edition has such a wealth of ethnographic and natural history materials, most of it apparently written by Lewis and copied by Clark, and accompanied by sketches of plants, animals, and Indians and their canoes, implements, and clothing. Incorporating a wide range of new scholarship dealing with all aspects of the expedition, from Indian languages to plants and animals to geographical and historical contexts, this new edition expands and updates the annotation of the last edition, published early in the twentieth century.

George Drouillard?s service to the Lewis and Clark Expedition was long obscured by the stronger light cast on the leaders and Sacagawea. Drawing from the various journals of the expedition and from many more obscure documents, letters, and legal records, M. O. Skarsten presents not merely an account of the pursuits in which Drouillard engaged but also an idea of the kind of man he was, as a member of the famous expedition and later as a partner of Manuel Lisa in the fur trade. ø The variety of responsibilities assigned to Drouillard during the expedition form an impressive list?recruiting personnel, message bearing, retrieving a deserter, pursuing strayed and stolen horses, trading for horses and canoes, horse gelding, and serving as riverboat helmsman, diplomat to the Indians, and boon companion to Lewis?in addition to the hunting and interpreting for which he was specifically hired. Skarsten also pays detailed attention to Drouillard?s fur-trade activities, including his trial for the murder of Bissonette, his attempt to trade with the Blackfeet, and later his death at their hands in 1810. ø Robert C. Carriker?s introduction to this edition includes information on Skarsten, an evaluation of his treatment of Drouillard, and new information on Drouillard revealed since the book?s original publication in 1964.