Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West

On our vacation out west last month I saw a few historical markers for Lewis and Clark. I had to admit to myself that, though I knew their names and vaguely what they'd done, I was not aware of any of the details of their expedition. I either missed that day in American History or that knowledge has left my head to make room for song lyrics (which I assume take up most of my brain's hard drive space.). So I looked on Amazon and saw that Stephen E Ambrose had written a book about them and I recognized his name so I purchased it and have been reading it since the vacation.What an epic story of an incredible journey! I learned so much, starting with Lewis' first name, Meriwether, and the fact that it was Thomas Jefferson who not only completed the Louisiana Purchase but then commissioned the expedition, mainly in hopes of finding an all water route from the east coast to the west coast (spoiler alert: those damn Rocky Mountains get in the way.) One of the things that fascinated me was how bereft Jefferson (and everyone else back east) was about how the trek was going. In our day and age where you can video chat with someone halfway around the world in real time, it's impossible to imagine a day and age when it would take two years to learn whether Lewis and Clark and their small group made it safely to the Pacific Ocean or were slaughtered along the way.The book itself was rich with details, culled mainly from Lewis and Clark's individual journals which they kept dutifully during the entire expedition. But Ambrose doesn't shy away from editorializing either. He very openly discusses all the broken promises made to the Native American tribes the expedition encountered, as well as how growing up as slaveholders influenced Jefferson, Lewis and Clark in their thinking that certain races are superior to others. That is the true dilemma of this great nation, and one that cannot be ignored when discussing something as monumental as Lewis and Clark's expedition. Did the good outweigh the bad? If history, as they say, is the story of the winners, then the answer is Yes. Could we as a nation have prospered any other way? That, we'll never know.After the expedition was complete, there were still about 80 pages left in the book. I didn't see how there could be. Other than getting their journals published, what more was there to the Lewis and Clark story? Silly me. I had no idea about Meriwether Lewis' sad and tragic ending. It actually wept a little when I read it.I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves a good adventure story, especially if you're like me and you somehow missed out on all the details of this great expedition in school. It's a true American story of bravery and exploration. And next time I'm out west I'll be sure to pull over at one of those historical markers and appreciate it a lot more.

Great captivating book with accurate history. It should be required reading to become a citizen.....with a test.

I had previously read and enjoyed Ambrose's "Band of Brothers", "D-Day" and "Citizens Soldiers", and I also have an interest in earlier American history, so I had to read "Undaunted Courage". I'm about half way through and am enjoying the book. Ambrose puts much emphasis Thomas Jefferson and his relationship with Lewis, so much so that Jefferson is almost as much of a character during the tale of the journey as the two Captains and the rest of the party. Ambrose is a more unabashed fan of Jefferson's than I am (I lean towards the John Adams side of that revolutionary split, while understanding the faults and flaws of both), but the TJ hosannas are muted enough not to be annoying. Ambrose was an effective popularizer of American history, and did a great service in bringing the past to life for readers who are not specialists or academics - despite the plagiarism scandals which rightly muddied his reputation among professional historians. And he was never the stylist that David McCullough is. (Though McCullough leans as far towards Adams as Ambrose did towards Jefferson.) But Ambrose writes clear prose, tells an interesting story and puts things in context - which puts him ahead of most popular historians and miles beyond most academics. (Who appear to regard the ability to write clear prose as some kind of personality disorder.)

Ambrose's writing is riveting, and his descriptions vivid and captivating. This book is hard to put down. I wish the maps were more detailed and in higher resolution, but that may be more a failure of Kindle than the book itself.

Author Stephen Ambrose masterfully tells the story of the 1804-1806 expedition commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore, chart, and gather scientific data about the Louisiana Purchase territory and the Pacific Northwest. The book also shows the important support role played by the young Indian woman, Sacagawea. Sacagawea was only 15 or 16 years old and had just given birth when she joined the expedition. What an incredibly heroic figure - and to be so at such a young age! Amazing!A small core group assembled at an initial staging area near Louisville, on the Ohio River, where they acquired boats and supplies. They took the river downstream to St. Louis, Missouri on the Mississippi River, which at that time was part of the western frontier of the young United States. There they made final preparations and took on provisions, ammunition, other supplies, and additional personnel for the expedition. The expedition formally began there in St. Louis. The party proceeded by canoe up the Mississippi River to its confluence with the Missouri River, then took the Missouri River upstream to its headwaters. The explorers made many camps along the way, established relations with the many Indian tribes they encountered, and received tons of assistance from them, better enabling the explorers to overcome the various and sundry challenges they confronted and seize whatever opportunities arose along the way.Beyond the Missouri's headwaters, the expedition had to proceed overland. Thanks to helpful guidance from the Indians, the party found a broad, gentle, well-traveled Indian trail through a pass that took them safely across the Continental Divide, thereby sparing them from an arduous, dangerous climb up and down the rugged Rocky Mountains. When the intrepid explorers reached a river system on the western side of the Divide, they resumed the rest of their westward journey by canoe. This water route eventually took them to the Columbia River, which carried them to the Pacific coast.In the return trip back east to St. Louis, the expedition partially retraced its westbound steps, but also explored new routes.Round-trip, the expedition lasted 2 years and 4 months. During that time, the expedition faced and overcame massive challenges related to weather, terrain, sickness, food, shelter, clothing and their beasts of burden. The explorers encountered literally dozens of Indian tribes on the outbound and return treks, proactively established relations with them and dealt with the problems that sometimes arose in those situations. Overall, the information and assistance that friendly Indians provided the expedition far outweighed any trouble that arose during encounters with hostile Indians, and contributed to the success of the expedition.The explorers also saw majestic views and nature's beauty, although one wonders whether the challenges they faced 24/7 enabled them to take much pleasure in those scenes.If you like history, adventure, travel, and colorful, intelligent writing, you will love this book. I've listened to the audio version multiple times, masterfully read by Cotter Smith.

Vividly written review about a real life adventure through wild America.

Stephen E. Ambrose è noto soprattutto per i suoi saggi sulla II Guerra Mondiale, per cui è stata per me una sorpresa imbattermi per caso in un suo testo sulla spedizione di Lewis e Clark.Cercavo un testo completo ed esauriente sull'argomento, e questo testo ha pienamente soddisfatto le mie aspettative: esso è in realtà una biografia di Meriwether Lewis ma, considerato il fatto che la spedizione costituì il più grande compimento della sua vita e la morte sopravvenuta poco dopo, si traduce per il 70% nel racconto della spedizione stessa.Il testo presenta alcune interessanti digressioni sulla figura di Thomas Jefferson (tra i padri fondatori della nazione americana ma la cui importanza è pressoché ignota al lettore italiano) e sul suo significato per la fondazione degli Stati Uniti come sono oggi.Il racconto è avvincente ed estremamente completo, scritto in un inglese semplice e con un piglio divulgativo.Ovviamente lo consiglierei a coloro che sono interessati all'argomento in sé: chi non cercasse una monografia sulla spedizione ma qualcosa di più ampio sulla Frontiera di inizio '800 rimarrebbe in parte deluso.

M. Ambrose focuses on the context of the expedition. He insists on the role of President Jefferson as the driving force behind the entreprise, on his visionary guidance and on the impact of the Corps of Discovery on Western Indian nations.All these aspects are dealt with superbly in this book, a swiftly moving, full-dress treatment of the expedition. It is essentially a biography of Meeriwether Lewis, conveyed with passionate enthusiasm by M. Ambrose, and sprinkled with the most famous and vivid passages from the traveler's journal. Great performance.

The western half of the United States in 1800 was a vast unknown land so President Thomas Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition to find a way from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and to describe the country and peoples that he found in that huge blank on the map.On 22 May 1804 Lewis, his partner William Clark and their expedition set out from St Louis, Missouri and after a momentous journey across the great plains and over the Rocky Mountains he camped beside the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River on 10 November 1805.Stephen Ambrose in his sweeping account of the journey of the first white Americans to cross the unknown part of the continent brings the events vividly to life and when reading his account I tried to imagine what the country was like before white Americans settled there and built their towns, cities, railways and roads. Reading the original words of Lewis's diaries can be quite difficult because of the way he uses language so Ambrose performs a valuable service for us by putting into modern language Lewis's words. Clearly this is a labour of love for Ambrose who has himself followed in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark and he tells the story of the jouirney in such a way as to make it difficult for you to put the book down once you have started reading it.It is a terrific book and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone and as someone who has seen for himself some years ago the magnificent country that the expedition crossed I think Ambrose has told the story in a way that is truly memorable and enjoyable.

this is a great book about an important part of the history of the US, but it is more than that, it is a book on leadership because it narrates the motivations, courage and determination of a group of individuals to achieve a goal that, at the time, seemed unachiaveable.Excellent prose. I do recommend this book