"Passage through the Garden
Lewis and Clark and the Image of the American Northwest" John Logan Allen, 1975 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Press
Urbana Chicago London. 412 p.
My wife, knowing that I am interested in early American History bought this book at a Used Book store and after reading it I thought I would pass on my thoughts to you.
As the title indicates, this is about the Louis & Clark expedition however it is written from a slightly different point of view than most of the books on the subject.
The author has a fascination with geography and early maps of the U.S. and tells of the maps used both prior to, during and after the journey.
He also is firmly convinced that prior to the expedition, President Jefferson, Lewis and Clark thought of the entire Northwestern region as a "garden" to be used by an expanding country hence the books name.
With over 45 maps ranging from Jacques Marquette's map of the Mississippi (1673), Louis Hennepin's map of Louisiana (1698) and Antoine simon le Page's map of Louisiana (1758) thru the 1814 Clark map the book is well documented.
Speaking of documentation, the Bibliography lists over 200 sources.
To me, reading this book, while interesting was rather a chore.
Although the flow and writing style was quite well done a great deal of time was spent re-hashing thoughts and comments previously made.
In some ways, it reminded me of the History Channels presentations where a point is made and then the commercials pop up followed by 5 minutes of telling you what you just heard 10 minutes ago.
Of course the book is without commercials but you get the idea.
Fully 50 percent of the book deals with the maps and thoughts of the people involved prior to the actual start of the expedition leaving the other half of the book to cover the trip.
Because the part of the book that describes the actual expedition is aimed at the maps and geography of the Northwest there is little new information about the fine details of the day to day detail, often leaving out many of the harrowing adventures.
On the other hand, after reading the book my understanding of the country they passed thru is clearer and better defined.
While other books have done a much better job of describing the interactions between L&C and the Natives they met, much of this was omitted by the author describing for instance the entire period spent at Fort Clatsop as a totally miserable purgatory of rain, rotten elk meat and vegetation so thick they couldn't move without hacking their way through it.
While it well may have been that way, the lack of more specific details about the region and the Natives left a bit to be desired by me.
The book does not stop with the conclusion of the L&C expedition but also gives somewhat brief coverage of explorers who followed the investigation of the Northwest and the West and their contributions to the final Clark map of 1814.
On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being at the bottom I would rate this book as a 7.
Those of you who are interested in the early maps of the period may find it of more value.
Lewis and Clark and the Image of the American Northwest" John Logan Allen, 1975 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Press
Urbana Chicago London. 412 p.
My wife, knowing that I am interested in early American History bought this book at a Used Book store and after reading it I thought I would pass on my thoughts to you.
As the title indicates, this is about the Louis & Clark expedition however it is written from a slightly different point of view than most of the books on the subject.
The author has a fascination with geography and early maps of the U.S. and tells of the maps used both prior to, during and after the journey.
He also is firmly convinced that prior to the expedition, President Jefferson, Lewis and Clark thought of the entire Northwestern region as a "garden" to be used by an expanding country hence the books name.
With over 45 maps ranging from Jacques Marquette's map of the Mississippi (1673), Louis Hennepin's map of Louisiana (1698) and Antoine simon le Page's map of Louisiana (1758) thru the 1814 Clark map the book is well documented.
Speaking of documentation, the Bibliography lists over 200 sources.
To me, reading this book, while interesting was rather a chore.
Although the flow and writing style was quite well done a great deal of time was spent re-hashing thoughts and comments previously made.
In some ways, it reminded me of the History Channels presentations where a point is made and then the commercials pop up followed by 5 minutes of telling you what you just heard 10 minutes ago.
Of course the book is without commercials but you get the idea.
Fully 50 percent of the book deals with the maps and thoughts of the people involved prior to the actual start of the expedition leaving the other half of the book to cover the trip.
Because the part of the book that describes the actual expedition is aimed at the maps and geography of the Northwest there is little new information about the fine details of the day to day detail, often leaving out many of the harrowing adventures.
On the other hand, after reading the book my understanding of the country they passed thru is clearer and better defined.
While other books have done a much better job of describing the interactions between L&C and the Natives they met, much of this was omitted by the author describing for instance the entire period spent at Fort Clatsop as a totally miserable purgatory of rain, rotten elk meat and vegetation so thick they couldn't move without hacking their way through it.
While it well may have been that way, the lack of more specific details about the region and the Natives left a bit to be desired by me.
The book does not stop with the conclusion of the L&C expedition but also gives somewhat brief coverage of explorers who followed the investigation of the Northwest and the West and their contributions to the final Clark map of 1814.
On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being at the bottom I would rate this book as a 7.
Those of you who are interested in the early maps of the period may find it of more value.
