On the Trail of Lewis and Clark - Softcover

Lourie, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590782682 ISBN 13: 9781590782682

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press, 2004

Synopsis

In 1804, Lewis and Clark and a band of adventurers called the Corps of Discovery embarked on one of the great expeditions in history - the exploration of the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. Much of their time was spent on the Missouri River. Two hundred years later, Peter Lourie, along with three friends, follows Lewis and Clarks' path up the Missouri. Their journey takes them from Omaha, Nebraska, where they launch their boat during one of the worst floods in a century, to Three Forks, Montana, where they meet the headwaters of the Missouri River. In between, there are dramatic sights: the Sergeant Floyd monument towering above the river; the gravesite of Sitting Bull; the breathtaking White Cliffs on Montana, and much more. The river may have changed over the centuries, but much of Lewis and Clarks' Missouri River is still there, massive and beautiful. Now Peter Lourie invites us to travel up the Missouri river and imagine what Lewis and Clark may have seen as they ventured into this new world.

About this title

About the Author:

Peter Lourie is the author of many books for young people, including Arctic Thaw: The People of the Whale in a Changing Climate and Hidden World of the Aztec. He lives in Weybridge, Vermont.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-7-Lourie and three friends set out in a riverboat, and further upstream a canoe, to follow Lewis and Clark's route on the Missouri River from near Omaha, NE, to its headwaters in Montana. The author moves back and forth between excerpts from the journals of Lewis and Clark and commentary on the Corps of Discovery Expedition and his own party's adventures, leading to some disjointedness, and, possibly, a lack of clarity for young readers. One digression about Sitting Bull, prompted by his gravesite overlooking the river, seems particularly out of place in an account woven around the Lewis and Clark journey. There is an interesting recounting of meeting a former tribal chairman at the Fort Peck Reservation, which brings to life the contemporary, if not historical, relationship of the Assiniboin with the river. An episode with a hapless Bureau of Land Management river guide, who runs out of gas and lacks a spare fuse when the boat's electrical system blows, results in a long night's trek cross country for the modern-day explorers. When Lourie writes, "We began to lose all hope," one is reminded of the "undaunted courage" of the original Corps of Discovery. The attractive layout incorporates clear, full-color photos of sites, artifacts, and the modern-day travelers and some black-and-white reproductions. An additional purchase.
Nancy Collins-Warner, Neill Public Library, Pullman, WA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1590782682
• ISBN 13: 9781590782682
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 48