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Exploration of America: Lewis and Clark & Sacagawea

This guide contains information on McKee Library's collection of resources relating to the discovery of America, including recommended books for further reading, films, research, databases, reference works, and more.

Resources

Research & Reference

Lews and Clark Expedition

Sacagawea - Heroine of the Lewis and Clark Journey

She was an expectant mother, but she endured every hardship these seasoned soldiers experienced. Without her, the Corps of Discovery would have failed. This program re-enacts her journey in her own words. Taken captive as a child during a raid, adopted into the tribe of her captors, and then married off, her adventures have only just begun. After Lewis & Clark journey to her village on assignment from President Jefferson, Sacagawea joins the expedition in seeking a northwest passage to the sea. Digging up edible roots and negotiating for horses, she saves the Corps of Discovery, time and time again.

Perspectives

Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes

At the heart of this landmark collection of essays rests a single question: What impact, good or bad, immediate or long-range, did Lewis and Clark's journey have on the Indians whose homelands they traversed? The nine writers in this volume each provide their own unique answers; from Pulitzer prize-winner N. Scott Momaday, who offers a haunting essay evoking the voices of the past; to Debra Magpie Earling's illumination of her ancestral family, their survival, and the magic they use to this day; to Mark N. Trahant's attempt to trace his own blood back to Clark himself; and Roberta Conner's comparisons of the explorer's journals with the accounts of the expedition passed down to her. Incisive and compelling, these essays shed new light on our understanding of this landmark journey into the American West.

Sacajawea

In the saga of early western exploration a young Shoshoni Indian girl named Sacajawea is famed as a guide and interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Far Northwest between 1804 and 1806. Her fame rests upon her contributions to the expedition. In guiding them through the wilderness, in gathering wild foods, and, above all, in serving as an ambassadress to Indian tribes along the way she helped to assure the success of the expedition. This book retraces Sacajawea?s path across the Northwest, from the Mandan Indian villages in present-day South Dakota to the Pacific Ocean, and back. On the journey Sacajawea was accompanied by her ne?er-do-well French-Canadian husband, Toussaint Charboneau, and her infant son, Baptiste, who became a favorite of the members of the expedition, especially Captain William Clark. The author presents a colorful account of Sacajawea?s journeys with Lewis and Clark and an objective evaluation of the controversial accounts of her later years.

Lewis and Clark and the Crossing of North America

Tells the story of the most important expedition in American history, led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Includes the stories of the young army men, French-Canadian boatmen, Clark's African-American slave, and the Shoshone woman named Sacagawea who went with them.

The Natural World of Lewis and Clark

On their journey westward, Lewis and Clark demonstrated an amazing ability to identify the new plants and animals they encountered, and their observations enriched science's understanding of the trans-Mississippi West. Others have written about their discoveries and have faithfully cataloged their findings; now a twenty-first-century biologist reexamines some of those discoveries in the light of modern science to show for the first time their lasting biological significance. 

The Journals of Patrick Gass

Sergeant Patrick Gass was one of the few members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to keep a continuous log of the entire epic journey. His simple and direct writing style, along with his emphasis on the daily activities of the trip, mad Gass's journal mo

Discoveries of Lewis and Clark

Follow the fascinating journey of the two explorers who mapped the Louisiana Purchase between 1804 and 1806. Along the way, you'll learn how Lewis and Clark fit into the tradition of explorers looking for a water route to the Pacific, and you'll consider the political (and geographic) history of the Louisiana Purchase.

Source: Kanopy