Idaho Commission for Libraries

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Core Texts

Every series will feature these two core texts:

The Essential Lewis and Clark, by Landon Jones, Ecco Press, 2002, c. 200. ISBN: 0060011599, pap. 13.95
Excerpts from the original journals of Lewis and Clark were selected by Jones to highlight important happenings during the Expedition's two-and-a-half year journey. Readers will get a taste of the day-to-day events on the trail.

Lewis and Clark among the Indians, by James P. Ronda. University of Nebraska Press, 2002, c. 1984. ISBN: 0803289901, pap. 17.95
Using journal accounts of all diarists, Ronda draws on extensive research and knowledge of the American Indian tribes to interpret Lewis and Clark's presence among them. This is an excellent survey of the journey from the Indians' points of view.

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Supplementary Texts

Each library will choose 3 selections from the titles below to complete their 5-part series:

Across the Snowy Ranges: The Lewis and Clark Expedition in Idaho and Western Montana, by James R. Fazio and Mike Venso. Moscow: Woodland Press, c. 2001. ISBN: 0961503149, hdbk. 29.95.
Of particular interest to Idahoans, this richly illustrated book describes the challenges of the Lemhi Pass and Lolo Trail areas. Here the Expedition purchased horses and received a guide from the Lemhi Shoshoni, and they spent a month near the Nez Perce on the return voyage.

Truth about Sacajawea, by Kenneth Thomasma, Grandview Publishing Co., c. 1997. ISBN: 1880114186, pap. 7.99. AND Sacagawea of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, by Ella E. Clark and Margot Edmonds. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1983, c. 1979. ISBN: 0520050606, pap. 16.95.
These two books are read together for interesting comparison and discussion. Thomasma's book highlights journal entreis about Sacajawea. Clark and Edmond's book traces her life and the various legends about her.

Sign-Talker: The Adventure of George Drouillard on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, by James Alexander Thom. Ballantine, 2002, c. 2000. ISBN: 0345435192, pap. 6.99. (FICTION)
Readers will enjoy this fictional account of Lewis's favorite hunter and interpreter, a man of Shawnee and French discent. Thom uses all historical records about George Drouillard's life, weaving an interesting and plausible tale of his background, thought process during the voyage, and his adventures afterwards.

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, by Stephen Ambrose. Simon & Shuster, 1997, c. 1996. ISBN: 0684826976, pap. 17.00.
More than any other, this book brought national attention to the Bicentennial. It is an excellent biography of Meriwether Lewis. Ambrose describes Lewis's life from his Virginia beginnings and association with Thomas Jefferson through his leadership of the Expedition to his tragic end.

William Clark and the Shaping of the West, by Landon Jones. Hill & Wang, c. 2004. ISBN: 08090411, hdbk. 25.00.
This new biography lends insight into the long career of William Clark, Expedition leader., Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and family man. Author and noted historian Landon Jones will be visiting five Idaho communities in the spring of 2005 to talk about this book.

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