The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume 12: Herbarium of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition)

Book Description

The University of Nebraska Press editions of The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition are widely heralded as a lasting achievement. In all, twelve volumes and a comprehensive index are projected, which together will provide a complete record of the expedition.

Volume 12 contains the most complete listing of the plant specimens cataloged by the Lewis and Clark expedition. All but one of the plants were collected by Meriwether Lewis, the most skilled botanist among the expedition’s members. The collection, however, was nearly lost over the years due to its scattering among various botanists who intended to catalog the expedition’s scientific discoveries. Fortunately, for many years the specimens have been in the care of major institutions, principally the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The 239 extant items are brought together here for the first time. This invaluable volume will assist researchers and enthusiasts hoping to identify each plant’s location, distribution, and use along the expedition’s route.

Customer Reviews:

The Essential Botanical Volume for Lewis and Clark Study.......2000-08-18

Number twelve in a distinguished, and, multivolume effort by Dr. Gary Moulton, The University of Nebraska, The "Herbarium" volume of "The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" is the most comprehensive, edited botanical reference of the known plant specimens of the Corps of Discovery, 1803-1806.

As an impressive culmination to the Journals, the herbarium collection finalizes the extensive botanical scholarship contained in the notes produced by Dr. Moulton in the previous eleven volumes, published periodically over the past twenty years. The product of extensive research into the known world repositories of the extent plant specimens, this volume contains only one known error in terms of inclusion of a plant specimen that cannot be attributed to the expedition's collection. This one specimen at the Charleston Museum has been discounted since publication.

Nevertheless, this volume contains relatively high-quality image reproductions of the known 238 specimens in the Lewis and Clark Herbarium, in addition to a clear introduction to the history of the Herbarium collection and the scholarship behind its most recent publication. 227 specimens are currently housed in the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia, and the remaining 11 are housed in the Kew Gardens, London. Of this list, 177 are distinct, individual specimens.

In the future, it is more than likely, despite this exhaustive effort on the part of Moulton, that a few new specimens will emerge from the depths of the American Philosophical Society, The Academy of Natural Sciences, and Kew.

Until such a time, this volume is an absolute necessity for anyone seriously interested in understanding the natural history ramifications of the expedition, the study of Lewis and Clark, and, for that matter, America's landscape legacy. One wonders how many more specimens would have been added to this collection if Lewis' early collections for the lower-Missouri had not been lost to decay during the expedition itself.

"Volume 12, Herbarium of the Lewis and Clark Expedition," Gary E. Moulton, Editor, The University of Nebraska Press, completes a fantastic series and must be added to complete one's collection of the first eleven volumes of the truly great American literary epic.

The only wish of this author would be the publication of high-resolution, color digital images of the Herbarium on CD or DVD, as a compendium to this volume. Perhaps in this way, we could all experience more clearly the wonder of viewing this most valuable treasure.

Dr. Gary Moulton should be congratulated for a job very well-done.

Book Description

This landmark volume contains the most complete listing and presentation of the plant specimens collected by the Lewis and Clark expedition. All but one of the plants were collected by Meriwether Lewis, the expedition’s botanist. The collection, how-ever, was nearly lost over the years when it was scattered among various botanists who intended to catalog the expedition’s scientific discoveries. Fortunately, for many years the specimens have been in the care of major institutions, principally the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The 239 extant items are brought together in one book for the first time. This indispensable volume will assist researchers and enthusiasts hoping to identify each plant’s date and place of collection and other information such as plant habitat and ethnobotanical use.

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Plants of the Lewis & Clark Expedition
Wayne Phillips , and H. Wayne Phillips
Manufacturer: Mountain Press Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0878424776

Common to This Country: Botanical Discoveries of Lewis and Clark

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A botanist's review of Common to This Country
Delightful

Common to This Country: Botanical Discoveries of Lewis and Clark
Susan H. Munger
Manufacturer: Artisan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Expeditions & Discoveries | World | History | Subjects | Books
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Plants of the Lewis & Clark Expedition

ASIN: 1579652247

Book Description

Lewis and Clark's 1804 to 1806 expedition to discover a direct water route to the Pacific Ocean resulted in accomplishments never imagined. Although they never found a water route west, they discovered and described more than 40 American Indian tribes, 122 animals unknown to science, and 178 types of plants. In exquisitely detailed watercolor illustrations and intriguing essays, Common to This Country explores more than two dozen of these plants' place in history and their significance.

The book skillfully chronicles Lewis' obsession with plant collecting, often in his own words, and botanically accurate watercolors display the salient features often noted in Lewis's journal. This beautiful guide will appeal to natural history buffs and gardeners alike.

Customer Reviews:

A botanist's review of Common to This Country.......2006-03-13

As both a botanist who is familiar with many of the species in the book, and as a lover of history and the story of Lewis and Clark, I found the book very enjoyable. I'm in agreement with the other review (as of 10 March 2006) that the illustrations are very pleasing, and the book and paper quality is excellent. New and well done botanical illustrations have become a rarity in the days of digital photography, and these drawings, by Charlotte Staub Thomas, are excellent, the one exception being the drawing for bur oak which is sub-par. Certainly, serious botanists would wish for more information about each plant, and for more plants to be included. But as a book for plant lovers and gardeners, this book is a real value.

Delightful.......2004-01-21

This book was mentioned in a local newspaper; I received it for my birthday and really enjoyed reading it!! It is a delightful mix of history and botany with soft illustrations. It has quotes from the journals of Lewis and Clark and reveals their reactions to plants they collected. The design, pages with a muted yellow edge and the font, helped tell the story of plant collection during the Lewis and Clark expedition. Interesting details were shared about the expedition and the plants that were collected. The illustrations also were muted or soft - not the hard line drawings you sometimes see of plants. Designed and written well.

Plants on the Trail with Lewis and Clark (Lewis & Clark Expedition)

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An informative book for elementary & middle school students

Plants on the Trail with Lewis and Clark (Lewis & Clark Expedition)
Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Manufacturer: Clarion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Exploration & Discovery | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Botany | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0618067760

Book Description

When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embarked on their landmark journey of discovery in 1804, President Thomas Jefferson directed them to notice "the soil and face of the country, its growth and vegetable productions." The explorers collected and preserved nearly two hundred seeds and specimens, from small prairie flowers to towering evergreen trees, many of them previously unknown to science. From the Indians they encountered, they learned which plants were ediblethus avoiding starvationand which could be used as building materials for their canoes and shelters. Looking to find a water route across North America, map the uncharted territory, and discuss peaceful trade with the Indians, Lewis and Clark became central figures in the country's westward expansion and major contributors to its scientific scholarship. In this welcome companion to Animals on the Trail with Lewis and Clark, Dorothy Hinshaw Patent traces the celebrated journey, examines the rich array of plant life the men sighted, and tells what became of the specimens over the ensuing two centuries. Adorned with William Muoz's beautiful photographs of a variety of colorful plants, this visual feast is sure to captivate nature lovers and historians alike. Route map, suggestions for further reading, chronology of plants collected, index.

Customer Reviews:

An informative book for elementary & middle school students.......2003-04-07

The harrowing 1804 expedition of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across the American wilderness has been well-documented on a library full of history books. Western expansion was the dream of then-President Thomas Jefferson, and so the co-commanders Lewis and Clark began a cross-country trip through the pristine wilderness stretching across North America to the Pacific Ocean to not only stake a claim in the west, but also to collect specimens of plants and animals, map the unfamiliar frontier, find a northwest passage for men to follow, and to establish trade with Native American tribes. This informative book for elementary and middle school students touches on all those matters, but takes a unique approach by concentrating on one particular aspect of the expedition: North American flora and fauna. What new and exotic plants did Lewis and Clark see during their cross-country trip through the pristine wilderness? What specimens of plants and animals did they encounter? Why were trees so important to the success of the expedition? What new sources of food did they discover? How did they discover uses for wildflowers? What was the fate of Lewis's specimens? Most species collected were new to science at the time Lewis collected them, so this historical look at the scientific nature of the journey is a valuable one indeed. "Plants on the Trail with Lewis and Clark" will not only instill knowledge in its young readers, but also a healthy desire to preserve the natural and historical places of the western U.S.

Lewis and Clark on the Great Plains: A Natural History (Bison Original)

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An easy-to-read, easy-to-use informational reference

Lewis and Clark on the Great Plains: A Natural History (Bison Original)
Paul A. Johnsgard
Manufacturer: Bison Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0803276184

Book Description

Lewis and Clark on the Great Plains is an easy-to-use reference on the wildlife that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered during their 1804–6 Corps of Discovery expedition. More than one hundred animals and plants that were first carefully described and in some cases discovered by Lewis and Clark are identified here.

More than accounts of the regional flora and fauna, Lewis and Clark on the Great Plains examines the lasting importance of the expedition’s discoveries, the significance of the Plains plants and animals to local Native Americans, and the current status of Plains wildlife. Lavishly illustrated with Paul A. Johnsgard’s drawings of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and plants, the book also includes a guide to the Lewis and Clark sites of botanical and zoological interest and more than seventy sites where readers can follow in the footsteps of two of America’s greatest pioneering naturalists.

Customer Reviews:

An easy-to-read, easy-to-use informational reference.......2004-02-09

A bicentennial tribute to an incredible early American trailblazing exploratory expedition, Lewis And Clark On The Great Plains written and illustrated by Paul A. Johnsgard (Foundation Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska) is an easy-to-read, easy-to-use informational reference and instructional guide to the diverse wildlife that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered in their 1804-6 Corps of Discovery expedition across the American wilderness. Black-and-white sketches, basic information, history, and basic scientific facts of each featured animal fill the pages of this strongly endorsed, straightforward, informed and scholarly reference.

Lewis and Clark's Green World: The Expedition and Its Plants

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Lewis and Clark's Green World: The Expedition and Its Plants
A. Scott Earle , and James L. Reveal
Manufacturer: Farcountry Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Flowers | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1560372508

Book Description

One of the United States' most prominent botanists, James L. Reveal has joined forces with A. Scott Earle (a retired surgeon and professor) to follow the Corps of Discovery's trail, focusing on the plant specimens that Capt. Meriwether Lewis "collected for Mr. [Frederick] Pursh," President Jefferson, and other scientists of the early 19th century.

Product Description

Enhanced with unusual and informative illustrations, biologist David Dalton s new book reexamines Lewis and Clark s observations of the new plants and animals they encountered in the light of modern science. He shows how advances like DNA research, modern understanding of proteins, and the latest laboratory methods shed new light on the expedition s findings. Introducing the tools and techniques of today s science in a way that won t intimidate nonspecialist readers, he expertly balances botanical and zoological information, with coverage ranging from the extinction of large animals in North America a few thousand years ago to the expected effects of invasive species and climate change in the coming centuries.

Saga of Lewis and Clark: Into the Unknown West

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A beautifully illustrated guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition
Audacity and Fierce Peril
An excellent introduction to the topic
Beautifully Illustrated Account of the Corps of Discovery
An informative, beautifully illustrated account.

Saga of Lewis and Clark: Into the Unknown West
Tom Schmidt , and Jeremy Schmidt
Manufacturer: DK ADULT
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Drawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

North America | Travel | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0789446383

Amazon.com

Storytellers are many, but illustrators are few--and few books on the epic journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are as beautiful as The Saga of Lewis & Clark. Illustrations from the original journals reveal the explorers' creative spelling and fine cartographic abilities; old drawings and etchings lend authenticity to the chronicle; and color photographs prove that the dramatic landscape they encountered remains wild in places.

The reproductions of paintings by Karl Bodmer and George Catlin from the 1830s are particularly stunning. The same paintings and journal excerpts appear in other illustrated accounts--including the companion volume to Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns's PBS special on the Corps of Discovery--but without the clarity and vibrancy achieved in this edition.

Brothers Thomas and Jeremy Schmidt are particularly adept as guides to the foreign landscape encountered by Lewis and Clark. Writers and naturalists with nearly two dozen books to their collective credit, they are clearly enamored with the Corps of Discovery and the West. Although one brother recently retraced the expedition's route from St. Louis to the Pacific, they don't let that experience intrude on a narrative that is richly embroidered with the explorers' own colorful language. Other works offer better prose, but as an introduction to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, this fine work succeeds handsomely. --Pete Holloran

Book Description

Beautifully written and illustrated, this book follows Lewis and Clark from the inception of their expedition to their celebrated homecoming. In an effort to seek out -- and stake out -- the fabled Northwest Passage, Captains Lewis and Clark led the expedition from Missouri through uncharted territory to Oregon. They fought rivers, suffered sunstroke, encountered and befriended Indians, and survived hunger, fatigue, and sickness. The journals brought back by various members, excerpted here, present the first written account of the area west of the Mississippi, including the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. Illustrations focus on running maps that serve as time lines, current photographs of still-virgin wilderness, annotated sketches selected from the hundreds of plants and animals (which the expedition documented for the first time), and artifacts created or first archived by Lewis and Clark themselves.

Customer Reviews:

A beautifully illustrated guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition.......2006-06-01

In 1801, France acquired the vast Louisiana territory from Spain, and in 1803, France sold it to the United States. President Jefferson wanted to explore some of the new territory as well as to establish some claim on the Oregon territory to the West of it. The plan was to look for a route to the source of the Missouri river and from there to the source of the Columbia, and then to follow the Columbia to the Pacific. Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and Second Lieutenant William Clark (1770-1838) were chosen to lead the expedition.

This book tells us a great deal about the expedition of Lewis and Clark, with some great photos of the terrain they encountered. We read about their encounters with grizzly bears, buffalo, fish, and mosquitoes. We find out how they coped with white water (in fact, they were even better than the Native Americans at handling it, although they were no match for the Chinook Indians when there were high waves near the coast). And we learn how they handled portages when they reached waterfalls or had to cross the Continental Divide (they abandoned their canoes and carved new ones at the top of the falls).

As the Schmidts explain, the expedition began to get organized in December of 1803, and it left Saint Louis on May 14, 1804. It went upriver on the Missouri to what is now North Dakota (the only death to an expedition member was on this portion of the trip), and the team wintered at Fort Mandan from November, 1804 to April, 1805.

The Indians local to Fort Mandan were the Hidatsa. But the ones who lived near the source of the Missouri were the Shoshone. The idea was to find some Shoshones, or even better, a Shoshone guide. The Shoshones could then explain how to get to the source of the Columbia, a region inhabited by the Nez Perce.

The official party of 25 left Fort Mandan on April 7, 1805 and headed immediately into uncharted territory. Along with them were Sacagawea (1788-1812), her husband Toussaint Charbonneau (1758-1840?) and their two month old son, Jean-Baptiste (1805-1866). Sacagawea was a Shoshone and spoke both Shoshone and Hidatsa, Toussaint spoke Hidatsa and French, and a member of the Lewis and Clark party spoke French and English. The presence of Sacagawea and her infant son helped assure various Indian tribes that the Lewis and Clark party had peaceful intentions.

They reached Great Falls (more than halfway across Montana) in June and Three Forks (the Missouri headquarters, which Sacagawea recognized) in late July. In August, they managed to reach the Lemhi valley (which Sacagawea also recognized) and looked around for some Shoshones. They did indeed find a Shoshone party. Truth being stranger than fiction, the Shoshone chief, Cameawait, turned out to be Sacagawea's brother.

The Shoshones did guide the party from the Continental Divide to a tributary of the Columbia. In September, they emerged from the Rocky Mountains, and they soon reached the Clearwater river. In October, they took the Snake river to the Columbia, reaching the Columbia estuary in November.

The party wintered at Fort Clatsop in Oregon, and even took Sacagawea to the Pacific to see a beached whale in January. They left Fort Clatsop on March 23, 1806, and were back in Saint Louis exactly six months later.

The first transcontinental railroad was completed in May of 1869 by crews which had headed West from Omaha, Nebraska and East from Sacramento, California. I wondered if any of the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition were still alive then. One was, namely Patrick Gass (1771-1870). It is sobering to realize how quickly this previously uncharted land became settled. When one compares the Montana of 1806 with that of 1906 and 2006, the differences are truly remarkable.

I highly recommend this book, which tells of a land which has changed greatly in a mere two centuries.

Audacity and Fierce Peril.......2002-06-07

"The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce." -Thomas Jefferson, Instruction to Lewis, June 20, 1803

The Saga of Lewis & Clark is richly illustrated with lavish full-color photography, annotated topographical maps, pictorial timelines, sketches of the animal and plant species first recorded during the "voyage of discovery," archival images of native cultural arts and crafts, quotes and pictures of the land Lewis and Clark viewed on their journey to the Pacific.

There are pictures of Clark's field journal and a fold-out map of the journey to put it all in perspective.

The chapters include:

Members of the Expedition - pictures of the letter from Jefferson and gorgeous

pictures of the scenery.
Underway - Bound for the Pacific through the interior of the continent
Onto the Plains - Stories of the Tribes living on the plains.
Off the Map - Confrontations with grizzly bears
Over "Those Tremendous Mountains"
On to the Sea - Rapids and finally, some pictures I recognize as home! I can almost smell
the salty sea now as I look at the pictures. We visited Fort Clatsop once with my aunt.
Homeward Bound - Humorous story about fending off the herd of bison. Yikes!
Log - Expedition Roster, Index, Credits, Animal Listings, Plant Listings, Glossary

A retelling of the greatest wilderness trip ever recorded. Thomas Schmidt and Jeremy Schmidt truly have created a magnificent keepsake of this journey into the uncharted West.

An Epic Journey!

An excellent introduction to the topic.......2002-05-01

An exciting tale of the journey of these two adventurers and their crew is retold through sufficient text and plentiful images. The photos are striking and abundant and a great way to lure kids into reading the book. It's both educational and entertaining to learn of their trials. However, if you are looking for expansive, in-depth text of every moment, you should check out other books that are a reprinting of their diaries. While this book is thorough, it is really just an introduction to the whole adventure and easy enough that you'll probably finish it in just a few sittings.

Beautifully Illustrated Account of the Corps of Discovery.......2002-03-08

This is a wonderfully illustrated retelling of the incredible expedition to the West and the Pacific Ocean undertaken by the Corps of Discovery, that amazing group of men (and women) who trekked over four thousand miles from St. Louis to the west coast and back over the course of two years from 1804-1806. The story of Lewis and Clark's journey to the West has been told many times, but never in such an accessible and enjoyable format as this. It is pepppered with excerpts from the expedition's meticulously kept journals and vivid descriptions of the unknown land and the native tribes they encountered in their travels into the vast Louisiana Territory. This book is bursting with beautiful photos, paintings, and drawings that draw the reader into this truly amazing story of adventure and discovery that shaped a young new nation.

An informative, beautifully illustrated account........2000-04-04

Beautiful, bright color photos pepper every page and often offer full-page spreads to accompany timelines, topographical maps, and rich accounts of the Lewis and Clark journey. Their words and experiences come to life in The Saga of Lewis & Clark, a survey which reveals different aspects of the travelers' discoveries and experiences, with Wayne Mumford providing the beautiful photography.

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