In 1803, soon after America acquired the Louisiana territory, President Thomas Jefferson set out to get a better understanding of this new territory. For this purpose he hired Meriwether Lewis, and later Lewis recruited William Clark, and old friend from army.

David Freeman Hawke, the author of Those Tremendous Mountains, follows the Lewis and Clark expedition from the beginning of President Thomas Jefferson planning, till the end where some of the results of the expedition are explained. The main purpose Hawke had of writing this book was to introduce the average reader to the Lewis and Clark expedition. The book is also targeted to anyone that already knows a little bit about the expedition but wants to further their basic knowledge of the events.

The book begins by covering President Jefferson reasons for proposing the expedition. To get congress to authorize the expedition, Jefferson's stated the trip was "'for the purpose of extending the external commerce of the U.S.' Thus, the principal object would fall within the constitutional powers and care of Congress." (p. 14)

However, to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Jefferson left a slightly different set of instructions. He stated the main purpose was as follows:

"The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River and such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communications with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce." (p. 27)

Lewis and Clark were also to "take observations of latitude and longitude at all remarkable points on the river." The observations were also to be taken with "great pains and accuracy, to be entered distinctly and intelligibly" so these recorded observations could be understood and used later. (p. 28. requoted from Jefferson's letter)

Lewis and Clark were also directed by Jefferson to record "other objects worthy of notice" such as soil conditions, weather, animals, plants, and any minerals found. They were to make notes on any of the native tribes they encountered. Jefferson gave a specific list of notes to be taken about each tribe. Lewis and Clark were instructed to be friendly to these natives and they even carried smallpox vaccines with them for the natives.

Using these specific instructions, Lewis and Clark set out on their trip with over 25 men. Hawke then uses the rest of the book to describe the trip and the experiences Lewis and Clark had. He uses many cited examples taken directly from the journals. He tells of how Clark prepared for the trip. For instance, he gives the packing list of what was loaded on the boat. (example: "50 kegs of pork: 4500 pounds" was the biggest weight) (p. 49)

The book then, while still arranged in chronological order, does spit up the trip into categories. Included in this section are chapters like the chapter describing some of the new plants found on the trip. There is also a chapter on new animals found. However, a whole chapter is devoted just to "a verry large and turrible animal [sic]" (p. 99) which describes their first encounter with a grizzly bear.

The sources the Hawke used for the book are very reliable. Most of the sources are entries from expedition journals. The majority of the entries are taken from Lewis and Clark's journals, but some are also from the journals other members of the party. The author also uses letters that relate directly to the trip, such as many of Jefferson's letters concerning the trip. Great portions of Those Tremendous Mountains were taken directly from the journals – with only the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation changed to make reading easier.

As well as journal entries, Hawke also includes copies of some of the original sketches made on the expedition. There is also a map of the journey based on the original drawings by William Clark. Lists and tables are included from primary sources such as a crew list, and a packing list of what went on the boats with the weight of each item listed.

Those Tremendous Mountains is divided into four subparts, each covering a different section of the trip. The first part (p. 1 – Preparations) gives background about the trip. It tells about the background of Lewis and of Clark. It also tells of Jefferson's reasoning for the expedition. The second part (p. 53 – Upriver) deals with the journey from Camp Wood, where the expedition first started out, to Fort Mandan where the know territory ended. The third part (p. 91 – Into the Unknown) is about their trip from Fort Mandan till they reached the Pacific Ocean. This third part is the main bulk of the book, where most of the journal entries are. The forth part (p. 221 – Denouement) is a brief description about the trip back, and then some information about what happened after the trip returned. This part explains how Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton ended up with most of the sketches and specimens collected on the trip. It also gives a brief bit about Lewis's death by suicide on October 11, 1809.

The author is David Freeman Hawke. David Hawke has a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. At the time the book was written, he was a professor of history at Lehman College of the City University of New York. Hawke has written several other books on early American.

The book was written for the average reader who wants more than just the story. It does tell the story of Lewis and Clark's expedition, but it also gets the story "straight from the horse's mouth" so to speak, but without having to wade through all of the actual journal entries. Hawke did a very good job of picking out interesting journal entries for quoting. He provides just the right amount of quotes balanced with some summary and explanation.

Overall the author overall does a very good job in not showing bias toward anything or anyone. He usually lets the journals speak for themselves, and only on rare occasions adds personal opinion.

However, the author does seem slightly slanted toward Clark. He keeps bringing up that Clark never got enough credit for his part of the trip. He occasionally says things like:

"Citizens of Saint Louis and President Jefferson called it ‘Captain Lewis's expedition.' But for the men at Camp Wood it was as much, if not more, Clark's expedition. It was he who took a disparate band of raw recruits... and shaped them into a tightly-knit crew. It was he who guided them through the first hard weeks at Camp wood...." (p. 42)

"Some of these finds [talking about new plants found] may have been thanks to Clark, who knew more natural history than he has been given credit for" (p. 68)

"He [President Jefferson] ignored the obvious fact that most of it [the journal he received mid-trip] came from Clark's pen. Indeed, not once in all his comments on the documents did he ever mention Clark." (p. 171)

There are gaps in the journals where Hawke simply sums up several weeks or even several winter month worth of journal entries by simply stating that nothing different was recorded from the last day, or that nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Occasionally he summarizes a journal entry of one of the other crew members and will state how it differed from the main one just quoted in the book. Although by summarizing Hawke may unknowingly be presenting a slight bias, I think these summaries greatly help in overall understanding of what is actually happening. By receiving two accounts from different primary sources, it is easier to tell if the original primary source is bias or not.

The author also offers comments on how future events compare or contrast to what was currently quoted. He also comments on some of the omitted entries between the original rough draft journals and the final polished journals that President Jefferson received.

The only weakness throughout the books is that very little is actually said about the crew. Much information is given about trip, and the events that took place. The book seems to be very "trip oriented." However, other than the names on the crew list, practically nothing is ever said about any of the crew.

In my opinion, if Hawke set out to write a well organized book, then he defiantly accomplished his purpose. Those Tremendous Mountains was not only fun to read, but it is also a great location for primary source information without going overboard and being boring beyond belief. I think that the greatest strength is the fact that so many journal entries are included in the book.

David Hawke provides a very worthwhile and interesting book. He provides great primary source information while still maintaining a lower technical level of writing. He makes Lewis and Clark's expedition exciting by letting them tell the story in their own words.

works cited

Hawke, David Freeman. Those Tremendous Mountains: The Story of the Lweis and Clark Expedition. New York: Norton & Company, 1980.

(273 pp. Illustrations, bibliography, index.)