Missouri Books

This very personal look at young Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) should be of interest to history buffs and fans of our 33rd President. The book is primarily a collection of letters that Truman sent to his girlfriend (and later wife) Bess Wallace (Truman), the letters being found in her home shortly after she passed away at age 97 in 1982. Most of these letters were written by young suitor Harry Truman prior to the First World War, when he was a struggling farmer and she a desirable beau from a prosperous (if dysfunctional) city family. Sadly, Harry didn't save Bess' letters to him, and those are lost to history. In these letters Truman comes across as decent, honest, and intelligent - if slightly prejudiced against immigrant workers in Kansas City. If his presidential talent isn't evident in these letters, his sturdy Missouri roots clearly are.

First of all, the potential buyer of this book should know that it will throw you back to the years when Harry, the lower-middle-class farmer's boy from outer Jackson County, was courting Bess Wallace, a moderately rich girl and young woman (albeit from a very dysfunctional family) from prosperous Independence. In the 1910s this was done, as it is done in every generation, but only with great difficulty and some soul-searching on both sides.

So buy and read this book if you want to read about young Harry's epic quest. Bess' letters to Harry are lost, but Harry Truman's letters are so vivid that their contents can be partly reconstucted. The two were real soul mates in the end - in the true sense of this most over-used phrase. They could actually converse by letter. How many of us are so lucky?

Buy and read this book if you want to see these two attractive people in the vanished world of 1910s Missouri. If you're looking for President Harry Truman, you won't find much of him here. By 1945 this pair had been married and living together for 25 years and were no longer writing daily letters to each other. But if you are one of those people who think that Truman was one of our greatest Presidents because he never forgot who he was and where he came from, you may want to know where he came from. He came from here, in this book.

The courtship of Harry Truman and Bess Wallace, is *the* over-looked love story of the century. Dear Bess is the most romantic book I have ever read. Harry's simplicity and honesty is a joy to read, and Bess would have been a fool to turn him down a second time.

From a historical standpoint, this book is a glimpse into the everyday, pre-presidential life of HST. The respect and dignity this Missouri farmer had for the Office of the President is refreshing. I come away from the book feeling like I know Harry. Coupling Dear Bess with David McCullough's Truman gives a picture of the man and his times in a very compelling fashion.

Dear Bess is a must-read for anyone who wants to know what love and responsibility are.

Prof. Wilson has gathered together a number of essays exploring various aspects of the thinking and writing of the late M.E. Bradford, professor of English at the University of Dallas. In addition Dr. Bradford was a rhetorician, historian, politician, and defender of the Agrarian ideal most clearly expressed this century in I'll Take My Stand but whose earliest antecedents go back to Jefferson and John Taylor of Caroline. Bradford was a candidate for chairman of the National Institute of the Humanities but whose nomination was sidetracked (by George Will, among others)when Dr. Bradford's less than laudatory writings on Lincoln came to light. The essays, contributed by Bradford intimates like Tom Landess and fellow historians Eugene and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, reveal a man of enormous erudition who believed a society works best when it faithfully adheres to the traditions bequeathed to it by earlier generations. For Bradford, those traditions are best illuminated by the Constitution and by the literary works of men and women who honestly record the lives of a community bound by duty and honor. Let's hope this book leads to a widespread interest in Dr. Bradford's work.

In many years of reading about the American Founding, the history and culture of the South, and conservative politics, I kept encountering the name M.E. Bradford. But apart from reading the occasional article, I had neglected to pay him much attention. But that is an oversight I am definitely going to work on repairing, now that I have completed this thorough look at the man's work and influence.

Mel Bradford was both a student of the Southern Agrarians and perhaps the definitive expositor of their view. By interest and vocation, his mind explored history and politics, but also literature and poetry, from the ancients to the most contemporary. The essays in this collection cover similar ground, analyzing Bradford, his work, the influences that shaped him, and his own influence, across a variety of disciplines. Generally sympathetic but not uncritical where criticism is warranted, the nine contributions here pack a lot of insight and information into a relatively few pages. And like so many of the books I seem to enjoy best, it produced a long list of additional books to add to my must-read list -- Bradford's own, most obviously, but many others as well.

The influence of the Southern Agrarians on history was admittedly slight, and Bradford's own lasting significance is open to debate. What's blessedly clear, however, is that he and his legacy have not yet been eclipsed. The fight over Bradford's nomination to head the National Endowment for the Humanities early in the Reagan Administration was one of the earliest fault lines in the much-discussed "conservative crackup," and an early milestone in the neocon ascendancy. That ascendancy is far from absolute, however, and heat is still rising from the cracks and fissures. This book serves as a useful reminder of the issues at stake there, too.

Mostly, however, "A Defender of Southern Conservatism" is a fine testimonial to an influential scholar and an admirable gentleman. It's definitely inspired me to dig more deeply into his life and work, and I expect other readers shall have the same reaction.

~A Defender of Southern Conservatism: M.E. Bradford and His Achievements~ is an informative overview of the life, legacy and scholarship of the late Mel Bradford who died in the early 1990s. The southern historian Clyde Wilson has assembled a powerful anthology of essays in tribute to the late Mel Bradford. It should be duly noted that no true blue conservative can study the American founding, the Constitution, and southern history without eventually encountering the name Mel Bradford. Bradford was an heir to Southern Agrarian movement centered at Vanderbilt University and left a legacy of constitutional scholarship and literary achievement. He served as professor of English at the University of Dallas and gained notoriety for his southern literary criticism He was 1980 nominee to chair the National Institute of the Humanities chair under the Reagan administration, but Bradford lost to the former Democrat and neoconservative Bill Bennett. Bradford caused quite a stir as his views over Abraham Lincoln became a source of controversy. The budding neoconservatives mounted a smear campaign, and the political activism and anti-Lincoln sentiments of Bradford may well have cost him the nomination. In the aftermath, the paleoconservative movement became more self-conscious as the fissure deepened. Their passionate and principled dissenting tradition served as a reminder to their neoconservative tormentors about what conservatism really embodied. Bradford frequently sparred with Claremont Institute's resident egalitarian Harry Jaffa who was a cheerleader for Lincoln's constitutional revolution that forever changed the American polity for better or worse. In my humble opinion, the jurist Marshal DeRosa's exposition of Bradford's constitutional theory is perhaps the most sterling and informative piece of prose contained therein.

This book packs quite a punch, and praise is due to the editor Clyde Wilson for putting together such a potent tribute to such a worthy luminary amongst southern conservatives. M.E. Bradford left a legacy of scholarship-both literary and political-that needs to be examined for years to come.

This book is based on a diary which the author began in 1927, when she was 15 and a farm girl in North Dakota, and covers the years from 1927 ro 1937. She worked very hard and lived in grinding poverty. She went to college and then taught school and fended off marriage proposals, and never in the book says a good word for the man she married--who was courting her thru the last years she was keeping her diary. This I found to be quite a book, unpretentious as it holds itself out to be. A most moving account of a time and place one seldom hears about. I recommend it unreservedly.

I absolutely adored this book. It was powerful for me because it gave me an honest, often humorous, but vivid account of a reality I craved knowing more about...the depression years in the Great Plains states. I think I know more about my mother, who grew up a poor tenant farmer's daughter, just a little better. I look forward passing it on to others, and even using it as a wonderful book to read to some of my older friends.

Wonderful narrative of a difficult time in America. Such perspective of events from close to home. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates history unrevised and truthful.
T. Addison

This review refers to the Unabridged Audio Cassette edtion of "The Essential Lewis and Clark" Landon Y. Jones, editor

These selections from the journals of Captains Lewis and Clark during their explorations in the early 1800's is not the complete text of their writings, but after 6 hours of listening you will come away with more then 'essential ' knowledge of what took place. The selections will take you the entire distance of this important and historical journey, and you will feel like you are part of it. Read by two great voices, Peter Friedman ("Brooklyn Bridge"), and Tom Wopat ("The Dukes of Hazzard"), each giving the Captains very individual and wonderful voices, and making it easy to know who's journals you are listening to.

Through the rivers and mountains, the Great Plains, you are there with them. It's not only an important piece of American History, but great adventures to get caught up in every step of the way, as they navigate unknown and untried routes, meet with native Americans, friendly and unfriendly, fight the elements, wild animals and mosquitoes that nearly ate them alive. So many adventurous episodes to savor in their words. They named the rivers, carved routes for the future, at times facing danger and hunger. I especially enjoyed hearing of their meetings and relations with the various tribes of Indians.

The selections read are unabridged and their every thought captured for us to savor. I found Lewis's writings to be very animated and lengthy detailed accounts of the journey. Clark's seemed more abbreviated, but, to the point. Both put you right there with them and are eloquently written. Exciting and adventurous as they are an important and treasured part of American History. There is also a narrator to set the scenes and follow the path.

Highly recommended not only for history buffs, but for those studying this part of American History in school.If I had had this audio edition 40 years ago in History class, I certainly would have paid more attention! The journals can't help but spark your interest. It is great for adventure story lovers.

There are 4 two sided cassettes with excellent sound quality.

Enjoy the read... I did...Laurie

... but the events described in the journals actually happened, and they are fascinating! Their means of travel, of survival, of communicating with the Indians, of hunting game and chasing and being chased by bears -- all described in such detail that you can easily picture it. In addition to being adventurers, these men were romantics and intellectuals. It is no wonder that once their journals reached the east, people started coming west in droves to see the beautiful lands and abundant game they described. The CDs are great for a long drive or the daily commute.

Are you a Lewis and Clark buff, just starting out? You've read "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose, and perhaps a couple other Lewis and Clark books. It's time to read the journals, but you are daunted by the thought of all that early 19th century wordiness, spelling and such?

Me too.

This book is great. It's just what it says it is. All the good stuff from Lewis and Clark's copious journals, all the highlights, well edited. The value of this book is as a starting place, perhaps. It's short enought to be read easily over a few days. Like all good introductions, then, if you want more you know where to look, and you'll now know what to expect. Landon Jones provides all the accessibility; Lewis and Clark still provide the wonder.

From desciptions of the Durfee and Peck traders to the health conditions at the fort, the construction of the fort itself...a work to be enjoyed. You can feel yourself sliding back in time, to the shores of the Missouri, when there was little west of you except open land and Indians. I relished this book, enjoyed each and every page.

Fort Union And The Upper Missouri Fur Trade by Barton H. Barbour (Assistant Professor of History, Boise State University), is a comprehensive history of the city of Fort Union, one of the most important and enduring fur-trading posts of the nineteenth century. Historian and author Barton Barbour transport the reader to a yesteryear teeming hub of communication and activity between pioneers, Native Americans, trappers, traders, and more. An involving discussion of the legal, political, and sociocultural influence this trading hub had upon American history, Fort Union And The Upper Missouri Fur Trade is an impressive work of deftly presented scholarship which has clearly earned its finalist ranking for the 2002 Western Writers of America Spur Award in the Best Western Nonfiction-Historical category.

When I found that I would be moving to Williston, ND, (25 years ago) I checked to see what all was in the area. I was pleased to notice that the North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park was in the next county. I also noticed that there was a National Historic Site nearby as well. The National Park is nice but I have been to the Fort Union National Historic Site far more often. I discovered that a significant chapter in our nation's history took place at the nearby confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Thanks to this scholarly work by Barton Barbour, I have been able to read the most focussed, well-written, engrossing book ever published on this local monument.

When I came to this area, the site was comprised of a trailer home Ranger office/Visitor's Center and a roped out layout of where the various parts of the fort used to be. The subsequent reconstruction of the site (which was financed, in part, by significant local contributions) has resulted in a site that looks as impressive as its' history. Much of the local focus seemed to be about the many "celebrities" who came here during the fort's heyday. While there are many well-researched work about the Fur Trade, Barbour's book elevates the level of discourse to an analysis of significant issues. He presents a compelling theory that the fur-trading communities of the Upper Missouri exemplified a society of diversity that was well ahead of its' time. While there were hierarchies involved, there was also a recognition that all parties were interdependant of each other. The resulting respect and cooperation was well beyond the societal norms of the rest of European-settled America. Ironically, this existed at the same time the rest of the USA was fighting the Civil War over, in part, issues of racial equality.

There are chapters that examine the nature of the fur-trading industry and its' relationship to other industries as well as to the US Government and its' various agencies. These 2-3 chapters in particular do tend to slow the reading down a bit but Barbour offers a good overview of the Fur Trade's position in the American Economy and legal structure of the times. The political change that arose from the Civil War are stikingly presented by the author.

Mr. Barbour also offers a look at the effect that the Fur Trade had on the Native American Culture as well as its' impact on the Arts and Science of an emerging nation. He shows how the needs of trader and Indian alike created a market place that was respectful of each. The overhead may have been high but the quality was very good. His conclusions challenge many of the more recent stereotypes of European-American interaction with Native societies.

Barton Barbour has succeeded in creating a much-needed overview of the Upper Missouri Fur Trade. His analysis of Fort Union as the most significant site of its' kind is well-presented. It is much appreciated by those of us in the Missouri/Yellowstone Confluence area who knew that Fort Union was always more than just another fort on another river.

To the author: I can't tell you how fantastic I think it is that all of your hard work on this book really paid off. To me, it wasn't merely a history book; it was an opportunity to stand beside the men you described and to watch them be who they are. I could see the wear and tear on their clothes and almost smell the baked-in odors of days and months without baths.

From Home Guards to Heroes is a thoroughly researched, creative, and engaging history of the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry and the primary location from which its members came, Adams and York Counties, Pennsylvania. (Reviewer's disclosure: my great-great-great uncle, Daniel P. Reigle, was a member of Company F of the 87th, leading to my personal interest in this unit.)

The foundation of this book is Brandt's extensive research: U.S. census records, nearly 2000 Compiled Military Service Records, and over 1000 pension files for 87th Pennsylvania members, in addition to those records for over 800 men from the Adams/York areas who enlisted in other units in 1861. This study yields descriptive data on the 87th and comparative data relative to men in other units on factors such as their professions, age, physical characteristics, age at death, life expectancy, American-born and foreign-born, and their personal worth in personal property and real estate at the time they enlisted. The data on 1861 enlistments (both 87th and other units) is presented with the 1860 Lincoln vote for each of the fifty-five townships and boroughs in the two counties.

The quantitative research is complemented by extensive use of newspapers, including not only major city newspapers, but the local newspapers in the Gettysburg, York, and Hanover, important for understanding the political landscape and personalities in the area. For example, in addition to the rich contemporary information yielded by those newspapers, this research also yielded the valuable recollections by Michael Heiman in the York Gazette in 1891-1892. Further, Brandt has made use of any available manuscript sources, such as the George Blotcher papers at the excellent library of the York County Historical Trust, the Thomas Crowl papers at the U.S. Army Military History Institute and Penn State University libraries, and other materials provided by 87th descendants. He uses this information to create "sketches" of each company in the 87th, and the primary officers who were instrumental in its formation and its four years of service. I have seen many of these names "on paper" in years of reading about the 87th, but I found Brandt's sketches to provide an entirely new level of perspective on the men themselves.

This is a "real people" approach to the regiment's people and history, and it does not hesitate to share information that is delicate or uncomplimentary. For example, in the unit's rush to organize, there was no attempt to make any pre-enlistment physical examination of the potential enlistees. Brandt presents data to show that this resulted in more than 11% of the 1861 enlistees leaving the service for illness or injury; by comparison, the 7th PA Reserves' Company H, recruited in the same area, conducted full physical exams and experienced less than half that level of attrition. At another level that paints a less-than-heroic picture of some of the 87th's men, the unit was chartered and recruited primarily to provide security on the important Northern Central Railroad between Harrisburg and Baltimore. Although this was critically important to the Union effort in the first year of the war, such duty was not expected to involve major combat, long marches, or significant hardships at great distances from home. As a result, there was significant consternation among some parts of the 87th when their mission changed to becoming a fighting unit in the Union Army. Brandt examines the subject of desertions in detail, both real and on paper only, especially those occurring in the aftermath of the 87th's loss of 293 men captured at 2nd Winchester during the prelude to Gettysburg in June 1863. Drawing on Ella Lonn's classic Desertion During the Civil War for perspective, he provides many details on the individual cases of some men who intended to desert and did so, but also includes cases that illustrate how men could be tagged as "deserters" unfairly due to cumbersome administrative processes,. Finally, the chapter on "South-Central Pennsylvania and Race" will undoubtedly leave readers with roots in the 87th's home territory with a better understanding of the complex views of the community on race, slavery, emancipation, and the meaning of citizenship, but also with some embarrassment in accepting in our 21st Century the opinions of our ancestors in the 19th Century. These are difficult subjects to tackle objectively and fairly, and I commend the author for doing so. It provides additional perspective for the 87th's solid performance as part of the VI Corps in 1864 and 1865.

A difficult choice for the author of any regimental history is how much detail to include on the battles in which the unit participated. Brandt made the choice to not attempt to relate in detail the battles at 2nd Winchester, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, 3rd Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, the Petersburg Campaign including the Breakthrough on 2nd April 1865, and the Appomattox Campaign. He does include a more extensive analysis of Monocacy because of the 87th's pivotal role there in slowing down Early's advance on Washington D.C. This is clearly the right choice, in my opinion, because it enables Brandt to use the space of his book to focus on the 87th, while the reader interested in more depth on the 87th at the major battles can readily turn to other excellent studies.

This book will be of value to anyone studying the genealogy or local history of the York/Adams County area. However, I also believe this book to be of significant value to anyone interested in an indepth understanding and history of a Union infantry regiment. Although the 87th was, of course, a set of specific individuals and events, the themes, dynamics, and patterns likely have a high degree of similarity in other units. I will not only be re-reading this book more than once, but will use it as a valuable reference in my own Civil War genealogy and history research.

If you are looking for a Civil War story that is new and different this is the book for you. I was held captive from start to finish. Dennis Brandt tells, after 10 years of research, the story only he can tell. The story of the 87th Pennsylvania. It is a story about the lives of the boys from York and Adams county. Yes, Gettysburg is in Adams County but this is not another tired tale of that great story. It is instead about how the boys started their Army life rather dull, guarding railroads ect. as many battles raged on in other parts of the U.S.A. But our boys get taken captive, they escape, they die and in the end we ponder over whether The Grand Old Flag would still fly over those states south of Mason-Dixon if not for these HEROS.

A superbly written book in which the author reveals and shares so many personal details of his life, making it most personal, inspiring, humorous and enjoyable. In a day when so many journalists have an agenda, it is delightful to read past essays from a journalist who does not have an agenda, is not to the right or to the left attempting to impose an attitude or set of beliegs on the reader. The author has compiled a second book of essays, which I have not been able to find...

Never in my life have I encountered an author with such colorful grace in describing life, and the way which Bill Tammeus writes is the same way that we'd each like to author our own. He is truly an artist of our time, working in words like others do in oils or clay. If you're willing to be caught reading a book cover to cover, than "A Gift of Meaning" is the literary genius to take you on your journey.

Bill Tammeus notices things as one who participates widely in life. He asks you to notice the meaning of these things with him, even as he assumes you will interpret them yourself. His range of subjects is remarkable. And no matter his focus--family, the news, war, politics, sports, AIDS, celebrated heroes, the "soft underbelly" of the media, pop culture, and much more--he always is scratching at what it means to keep human life human.

Tammeus' seasoned writing, thoughtful organization of topics and column length pieces (about two pages each) make reading effortless and a joy. His wit and self-effacing humor jump out of almost every page. But just the moment you chuckle with him, he takes you through his own personal pain and your eyes well up. Whether he is graced and elated or is staggering under grief, he touches you deep inside, because he writes so honestly from his own inner depths. No matter the subject, he leaves you full and enriched.

The author opens with personal reflections on the burial of his mother in a muddy Illinois plot in 1996. In the Epilogue he writes poignantly about what the world lost with the senseless death of his beloved nephew Karleton (and of all the others) in the first plane to hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. From his first word to his last, Tammeus packs his 250 pages with life. Thus, "A Gift of Meaning" makes a wonderful gift. I have already given copies to several people I love.

These are characters that are either you or people with whom you'd want to befriend. I'd recommend it easily to anyone looking for a great story.

I picked up this gem at a second hand bookstore and could not put it down. Arnie Goldman has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 8 and his friend, Redso, turns out to be a manic depressive. The third protagonist, Billy Rubin, daughter of an orthodox rabbi, needs to be needed. All three characters are highly intelligent. Savan's writing is beautiful. The pages just flow one into the next. Will definitely try and get his other book. It seems he has only written one other. I identified with all three main characters even though Redso is not a likeable person at all.
Did not really want to give the book 5 stars because the ending was a bit weak but decided that the quality of the writing and the way the story gripped me, was worth the extra star. Savan is truly amazing in that he writes about manic depression and rheumatoid arthritis as though he himself has suffered them. I wonder if he has any first hand knowledge of these illnesses.

Having thoroughly enjoyed White Palace, Glen Savan's earlier book that was made into a mediocre movie, I was looking for anything else that he had written. I was not disappointed with Goldman's Anatomy. It's funny, poignant and is so well written that many passages deserved to be read aloud. My only complaint is I can't find anything else written by Glen Savan. That's a shame.

Dr. Scheer has written a thoughtful book about an important woman who achieved milestones in our country's history. Nellie Tayloe Ross was the first woman elected governor in the country in 1924, the vice chairman of the Democratic Party who campaigned for Al Smith in 1928, and was appointed to be Director of the U.S. Mint in 1933, serving in that capacity until 1953.

Living to 101, her life and times bridged the frontier west with the modern world. Driven by the necessity to support her family after the death of her husband, Nellie moved to the forefront of women entering the political scene on their own merit. She went from frontier wife and mother to governor lady of Wyoming, and then to a full career in Washington D.C. She was a regular speaker on the Chatauqua circuit and traveled the world well into her 90's.

Nellies' story is a personal inspiration, particularly because most of her achievements came after she turned 40. I have been dining out on Nellies' story since I read it, and would recommend it to anyone.

Govern Lady: The Life And Times Of Nellie Tayloe Ross by Teva J. Scheer (Adjunct Faculty, Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado at Denver) is an informative study of the inspirational life of the first female in the United States to be elected state governor in her own right. Governor Lady brings the reader into the time when women were just being granted the right to vote, and the intriguing story behind one of the most famous political figures of the first enfranchised generation of American women. Very strongly recommended reading for its interesting story of an intricate mind-set and value cast of such a powerful woman in American history, Governor Lady is of particular interest as an addition to Women's Studies, Political Science, American Biographical Studies, and Western History collections.

"How did such a milestone of women's political rights come to be overlooked? ... Not a single full biography of this remarkable woman has appeared before now. Happily, the long wait has been well rewarded. Teva J. Scheer's biography is thorough, scholarly, and fun to read...
Scheer's biography even-handedly examines the whole of Ross' long life, from her family's travails during the Civil War to her death in 1977. The author is especially to be commended for searching out archival collections, including not only Ross's papers, but her secretary's, Eleanor Roosevelt's, the DNC's, Sue Shelton White, and many others. Scheer considers the domestic image as a wife and mother that Ross cultivated, but did not always live up to. She evaluates Ross's accomplishments as a politician and as an administrator. She places the nation's true first woman governor in the context of her time. By doing so, Scheer demonstrates both how much societal expectations have changed for women and how little their political opportunities have expanded. Scheer has produced a wonderful biography of an unjustly neglected American political figure."
D. Claudia Thompson

The narrative picks up in June 1805, after a night of rain "but it cleared off and became a fine day." By the end of that year when the expedition next wintered near modern day Astoria, OR, the expedition would face rains almost constantly, having a dozen or so dry days all winter, and of those only half provided sunshine.

This year is the most difficult of the expedition (or rather the period covered by this volume). The team meets its greatest hardships, not least of which is choosing the best overland route when the Missouri is no longer navigable. The correct choice (and the correct choice was made) is vital to preserving the goodwill of the men and the success of the expedition. Grizzly bears continue to harass the men (many hunters are treed), the mosquitoes become horribly bothersome, and when game becomes scarce, they trade for horses, sometimes killing the colts for food; elsewhere they trade to feed upon dogs, at first a meat loathsome to the men, but after adaptation and long usage, it becomes a favorite food, as the expedition trades for that article particularly. Many times plant roots and dried fish served as the only food for days on end, which made the men sick, who were so drenched with rain (they built their winter cabins in the rain), that many were too sick to participate in the necessary subsistence.

Here Sacajawea and her husband are saved from drowning by the vigilance of Captain Clark.

This volume provides many instances of bighorn and behavior, pronghorn antelope and behavior, and of course grizzly bears. This wonderful volume of harrowing escapes, exciting scenes of the endurance of man, and the wonderful rewards from severe hardships ends in March 1806, just before the expedition evacuates Fort Clatsop on the Pacific Coast.

A wonderful read for early American exploration, and an excellent resource for the American wilderness at the beginning of the 19th century.

Lewis and Clark's descriptions of their epic overland journey is a deserved American classic. So many students must memorize the Gettysburg Address or the Preamble of the Constitution, but too few are ever introduced to this magnificent trilogy, told in Lewis and Clark's own words. They were the first white men to lay eyes on the interior sections of the Unites States, when the land was unspoiled, unpolluted and obviously quite spectacular. In great detail, they relate their indescribable amazement to see giant Sequoia trees, grizzly bears and endless miles of barren desert.

Lewis and Clark's experiences are the stuff of legend, but the question that begs to be answered is: could they write? The answer is a resounding yes! The narrative flows smoothly, the descriptions of the animals and landscape come alive with their vivid use of language and metaphor. Perhaps the most vivid sections of the book revolve around their numerous encounters with Native Americans. This book should be required reading for anyone with an history in the history and exploration of the United States.

Before breaking camp in Fort Clatsop, the expedition had hoped to encounter British traders who ply the coasts, in order to buy provisions and ammunition with "their ample letters of credit." These were drawn on the Executive office of the United States, in other words Jefferson, who after getting $2,500 from Congress to finance, he seemed prepared to bring them back to Washington at any costs, including circumnavigating taxi if need be (this is no joke).

However, the waiting for the traders delays them from their start, and their hopes of returning to St Louis during the season are as warm and finally decisive as their previous push to the West. They break camp, return up the Columbia River, and with Sacajawea's vital help, find their way over the mountains where the snows are so thick that trails are impossible to discover. Thankfully the expedition resumes the Missouri, and after averaging 20 miles a day on the ascent (using oar and sail), they frequently make 80 miles a day on the descent.

After such a long and harrowing journey, full of hardships and decorated with delights, the men are anxious to press for home, sometimes not landing for rest or game during their earnest advance.

This trio of books is among the best reads I've ever had of men journeying into the unknown, discovering the best in themselves, and holding to the notion that perseverance will ultimately endure.

I loved the book, a satisfying completion to a wonderful tale.