num_pages: 592
description: 'This was much more than a bunch of guys out on an exploring and collecting expedition. This was a military expedition into hostile territory'. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a pioneering voyage across the Great Plains and into the Rockies. It was completely uncharted territory; a wild, vast land ruled by the Indians. Charismatic and brave, Lewis was the perfect choice and he experienced the savage North American continent before any other white man. UNDAUNTED COURAGE is the tale of a hero, but it is also a tragedy. Lewis may have received a hero's welcome on his return to Washington in 1806, but his discoveries did not match the president's fantasies of sweeping, fertile plains ripe for the taking. Feeling the expedition had been a failure, Lewis took to drink and piled up debts. Full of colourful characters - Jefferson, the president obsessed with conquering the west; William Clark, the rugged frontiersman; Sacagawea, the Indian girl who accompanied the expedition; Drouillard, the French-Indian hunter - this is one of the great adventure stories of all time and it shot to the top of the US bestseller charts. Drama, suspense, danger and diplomacy combine with romance and personal tragedy making UNDAUNTED COURAGE an outstanding work of scholarship and a thrilling adventure.
language: English
title: Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier
titlecomplete: Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier
characters: Thomas Jefferson, William Clark, Meriwether Lewis
genres: Audiobook, American, Historical, Biography, Travel, American History, Nonfiction, Adventure, History, Westerns
ratings_count: 61174
places: The United States of America
awards: awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Ambassador Book Award
category: American Studies, awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award
category: Nonfiction, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Spur Award
category: Best Nonfiction Historical
publisher: Simon & Schuster