NFP's Full Review: Stephen E. Ambrose Jr. - Undaunted Courage: Meriwe...
My recollection from high school about Lewis & Clark was that they walked to the Pacific and back with an Indian squaw at the start of the 19th century, and had a trail and a college named after them.
After reading noted historian Stephen Ambrose’s brilliant account of said journey, I can only marvel at the opportunity wasted by my teachers of yore. In this one incredible odyssey from 1803 to 1805 are the makings of fascinating sidebar studies on all the natural sciences (biology, zoology, botany, medicine, geology and physics to name a few), geography (mapping), philosophy and theology (America’s Manifest Destiny), politics (Thomas Jefferson’s view of American expansionism, early local government in western American cities like St. Louis, the realpolitik of dealing with the French traders and the Native Americans), and even sociology and anthropology (cross-cultural values such as trust and loyalty between Meriwether Lewis and his squaw guide Sacagewea). Oh, and there’s also a crackling good adventure story augmented by enough irony, tragedy and passion to make a screenwriter drool … or in this case, thank goodness, an author with impeccable credentials.
In short, it's the sweep and grandeur of America's history and sense of self in one box.
What blew me away about this book was much more than how Lewis and his hand picked associate William Clark accomplished their journey. It was WHAT they – especially Lewis – were CHARGED with doing. It was the truly numbing amount of intellect, knowledge and perspicacity that went into the decision by Jefferson to conceive of and fund such a multi-faceted venture and pick a most unlikely man to lead it, and of Lewis to undertake it at all. Is there nothing this early American Renaissance Man didn't know or couldn't do?
Consider this: On the surface, the venture was a failure. Jefferson was looking for a waterway that would link the East with the Pacific Ocean, establishing de facto American hegemony to the Pacific through control of transcontinental water-borne trade and commerce. No such thing, no such luck as the explorers determined a little over half way through the first part of the trek. But due to the exigencies of Jefferson’s inquiring mind, wisdom and intellect, and the fact of Lewis’ absolutely unique abilities, they didn't turn back at that point.
Thankfully -- and very cleverly on Jefferson's part -- this journey was also intended from the outset to foster excitement by yielding to breathless scientists back East what in retrospect may have been far more important than a water route -- Anglo America’s first recorded in-depth look at the true nature of the land that Jefferson wanted to make sure would become one nation from sea to shining sea.
And that’s the real joy of “Undaunted Courage.” It recounts an adventure of the mind and the spirit in the quest for knowledge as much as an arduous physical exploration, with both supported by cold, hard political acumen. For all of Clark’s heroism and Sacagewea’s strength, they pale in comparison to the vision of Jefferson and the sheer genius of Lewis who somehow found the mental and physical energy to draw on his erudition to record on paper priceless detailed notes, drawings and maps about heretofore uncharted flora, fauna, land forms, meteorology and peoples, all the while surviving multiple day-to-day hardships and dangers. The knowledge they brought back could not help but excite the imagination of eastern colonists of all stripes, and help Jefferson both in his aim for political support for westward expansion, and in satiating his gargantuan personal intellectual appetite.
Ambrose expertly weaves all these threads into a stunning portrait of a time when bravery and courage were measured in enlightened terms we no longer seem to understand. Lewis, Clark, Sacagewea and their band of soldiers, scouts, and roughnecks were engaged on a journey that blended the physical with the spiritual. He provides ample detail and examples of just what the explorers found in valleys, canyons, mountaintops, plains, abandoned forts, riverbeds and ocean shores. It’s a glimpse into a time and a place that forever ceased to exist once it was “discovered” by so-called civilized Western society, as well as into the edifying inquisitiveness and hubris of its best and brightest people.
If there is a potential weakness for some to “Undaunted Courage” it’s its linear approach. This is not a novelization of fact edited for pace and a quick read. Other than a few sections where he recounts his own family’s recent attempt to follow the Lewis & Clark Trail, Ambrose keeps the tale completely chronological and historically factual. He details Lewis’ military career, his time as Jefferson’s personal secretary, and his later trials and tribulations as governor of the Louisiana Territory after the journey. And he rightly delves into the interesting and consequential background and character of Clark, without whom Lewis never would have made the trip.
All this could become a bit ponderous for a reader who doesn’t get off on a lot of historical detail. On the other hand, what fascinating detail! It explains the unique intellectual collaboration between Jefferson and Lewis that allowed this journey to happen in the first place. And it makes one appreciate in utter amazement the supreme irony of Lewis’ eventual demise.
This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to truly understand some of the post-Revolution dynamics surrounding America’s birth as a nation and its westward expansion by getting into the psyche of the movers and shakers of the time. The more I learn about Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and others of our so-called Founding Fathers, the more I marvel at them. But don’t forget one more thing about “Undaunted Courage”-- it’s also a gripping adventure story full of derring-do, danger and unforgettable characters and situations.
I recommend it highly. And if you’re a grade school or high school American history teacher, I hope you emphasize Lewis & Clark more in your classes than my teachers did in mine.
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