Ambrose has written a chronology of the Lewis & Clark expedition which is detailed, but still engrossing. He tries to be understanding of the men’s limitations, while still giving them credit for their remarkable achievement. He refers, and often quotes, the journals both Lewis & Clark kept on the journey, but the reader does not have to read the journals to be able to follow the story. The author had apparently traveled along the same route the expedition took, as much as possible, and you get a strong sense of his appreciation for the natural beauty of the land.
We all heard the basics about the Lewis & Clark expedition, and how they were aided by Sacagawea, in school. The main goal of the expedition was to find a water route up the Missouri River, to the Pacific, which it turned out, did not exist. This book delves into the details of the journey, as well as how and why the expedition was put together in the first place. After Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, he needed to know exactly what he had purchased, and what use the country could make of it. He needed someone who could make a journey into the wilderness, live at least partially off the land, make maps, catalog the flora and fauna, and contact the Native tribes along the way. Meriwether Lewis could do most of these things, and William Clark and other members of the Corps of Discovery were able to do what Lewis could not.
The expedition encountered several trappers along the way, some of whom worked with them as translators with the various Native tribes. If your ancestors were early into this territory, their lives might have been similar to some of these individuals. Lewis, and to a lesser extent, Clark, did the “doctoring” for the men of the expedition. The list of medicines and treatments is somewhat frightening. Only one man died on the journey, probably from appendicitis. The book also describes frontier St. Louis, Missouri, which from his description, was a rather cosmopolitan place in the early 1800’s. I went to college in St. Louis; I live now in the Kansas City area, which was not much more than a wide spot in the river for Lewis & Clark. Two centuries can cause a lot of changes.
If this was your family, how would you research them? Where were your ancestors in the years between 1803 and 1806? They would have been aware of the expedition, assuming they read the newspapers. Were they already west of the Appalachians, or were they still “back East”? If they moved west, when did they start their journey? You will know from the census if they moved between 1800 and 1810 or 1820. Look at maps to see what routes they may have taken. If you think one of your ancestors may have been part of the Corps of Discovery, you should contact the Clatsop County Genealogical Society. The Society started looking for descendants of the members of the Corps of Discovery in 1999. They had a reunion in 2004; I don’t know if they have had any activity since then, but they should have a lot of information about the Corps.