A new view of Lewis and Clark
The pages of the journals are aglow with human
interest.
The quiet, even temper of the camp; the loving consideration
that each of the two leaders felt for the other; the
magnanimity of
Lewis, officially the leader, in equally
dividing every honor with his
friend, and making no
move without the latter's consent; the poetic temperament
of Lewis, who loved flowers and
animals, and in his
notes discoursed like a philosopher who enjoyed the
exercise
of writing; the rugged character of Clark, who wrote in brief,
pointed phrase, and, less educated of the two, spelled phonetically,
capitalized chaotically, and
occasionally slipped in his
grammar—all these and more, are
evident on every page;
causing the reader deeply to admire the men, and to
follow
them in their often
thrilling adventures with the keenest sympathy
and anticipation. We shall henceforth know Lewis and
Clark as we
never knew them before. The Biddle narrative
will no doubt continue to
live as the brief popular account of
an exploration fraught with great
consequence to American
expansion; but at least the student of history
will feel that the
original records, as the men wrote them on the spot,
are by far
the more satisfying of the two.
