History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, Vol. 1. To the Sources of the Missouri, Thence Across the Rocky Mountains and Down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed During the Years 1804-5-6.

Listeners are invited into the earliest American venture to chart the vast western frontier, following Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark as they set out from St. Louis in 1804. The narrative draws on day‑by‑day journals kept by the leaders and several of their sergeants, supplemented by recollections from the surviving members after their return. This richly detailed account captures the challenges of crossing the Missouri’s headwaters, negotiating unfamiliar terrain, and first contacts with Native nations.

Beyond the raw travel log, the editor’s introduction explains how the original papers were assembled after Lewis’s untimely death, giving insight into the painstaking process of preserving this historic record. Readers will hear vivid descriptions of river crossings, mountain passes, and the astonishing flora and fauna that amazed the Corps of Discovery. The result is a clear, earnest portrait of a nation’s bold step into the unknown, presented in a style that feels both scholarly and accessible.