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Undaunted Courage by Steven E. Ambrose is a book about the Corps of Discovery: the journey and explorations of Lewis and Clark. The book mainly focuses on Lewis his life and the expedition through his eyes. The book breaks things down into detail; such as the weather, interactions with the natives, the landscape, recording their finds, and reporting back to the President.
In 1803, President Jefferson organized an expedition to explore the west, find a water route to the Pacific, and report the finds along the way. He selected Meriwether Lewis to lead this voyage. Lewis, his partner William Clark, and there team made successfully made it to the ocean and back. These men explored a wild land that no white man had ever seen before. The expedition did fail to find a water route, but they discovered so much more. Lewis had problems with alcohol on the voyage and when he returned. To him the expedition was a failure, and he committed suicide in 1806 at age 35.
I really enjoyed this book. Although the book was detailed in areas which is both good and bad, it did a good job to tell the story of Lewis and Clark. It told of the good and the bad of the expedition. Although the journey is something of legend, it wasn't as successful as Jefferson hoped. There was no river to the ocean, the land was dry, and many natives were hostile. The journey painted a picture of the plains as a place of wonder but not for farming or development, but it forever changed the vision of the west. This book is very relevant and important to us students because this exploration was the first perception people had of the plains, and it would make or break the public opinion.