"A triumph of scholarly publishing....belongs on most readers' shelves--and should
accompany any road trip through the West."--Atlantic Monthly

"What makes this single volume of journal selections more powerful than its contemporaries is the use
of other corps members' diaries to provide further details about the journey."--Library Journal

"If you're going to read just one book...you should hear the story from the explorers themselves."
--Newsweek

In their own words, recorded in the famous journals of Lewis and Clark, the members of the Corps of
Discovery tell their story with an immediacy and power missing from secondhand accounts. All of their
triumphs and terrors are here--the thrill of seeing the vast herds of bison, the fear the captains felt when
Sacagawea fell ill, the ordeal of crossing the Continental Divide, the misery of cold and hunger, and the
kidnapping and rescue of Lewis's dog, Seaman. The natural wonders of an unspoiled America are here,
and the lives and customs of its native peoples also vividly come to life, making for a living drama that is
humorous, poignant, and, at least once, tragic.

Editor Gary E. Moulton blends the narrative highlights of his definitive Nebraska edition of the Lewis and
Clark journals to bring forth the voices of the enlisted men and of the Native Americans, heard for the first
time alongside the words of the captains.