Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose (1996)
Thomas Jefferson wrote of Meriwether Lewis, "Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness & perseverance of purpose..., careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order & discipline, intimate with the Indian character, customs & principles, habituated to the hunting life, guarded by exact observation of the vegetables & animals of his own country..., liberal... I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprize to him." Stephen Ambrose vividly described how Lewis's Virginia childhood formed his values, how Jefferson schooled him to lead the expedition to explore the West, how Lewis executed leadership of the voyage, and how his unraveling occurred afterwards to result in suicide.
Rarely has a non-fiction book been on the national best-seller list for a long period of time. Hardly ever has a history book incited such public discussion for several years running. In an interview with David Gergen in 1996, Ambrose recognized that the bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition came at a time when Americans were ready to identify with an imperfect hero. Undaunted Courage is the story of that hero.
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Biographical information about Stephen Ambrose (1936-2002)
Responsible more than anyone for bringing the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the attention of the general public with his popular nor-fiction biography of Meriwether Lewis, Undaunted Courage, Ambrose's career as an author has focused most on the American GI experience of World War II. Founder of the D-Day Memorial in New Orleans, Ambrose wrote D-Day, The Wild Blue, Band of Brothers, and other books giving Americans recent-day heroes. His multi-volume biographies of Eisenhower and Nixon provide scholarly appraisal of mid-twentieth century America. His fascinating parallel of two warriors' lives in Crazy Horse and Custer show his ability as a researcher and story-teller. For years Ambrose, a Ph.D. historian, taught at the University of Mississippi. After the overwhelming success of Undaunted Courage, Ambrose taught also at the University of Montana, provided foundational commentary for television documentaries, and traveled for national speaking engagements. He wrote over twenty historical books and many articles. He died of lung cancer at the height of his career.
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Discussion questions for Undaunted Courage
- What were the values of a Virginia gentleman in the late 18th century and how did these affect Meriwether Lewis?
- Why did Lewis choose Clark to help him lead the expedition? Do you think a shared command is unusual in military history? How did their personalities complement each other? How did their friendship develop after the expedition?
- How did Lewis prepare the personnel for the trip at Fort DuBois and on the first leg of the trip up the Missouri River to Mandans?
- Why do you think there are gaps in the journals of Meriwether Lewis?
- About Meriwether Lewis, Stephen Ambrose said in a 1996 interview with David Gergen, "he wound up as a suicide. He was an alcoholic. He was a manic depressive. He was a speculator in lands and lost his shirt. The government was calling in his chits and denying his expenses... he was broken in every way by the time he died, but he's one of our greatest national heroes." Do you agree? How do you explain this?
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