New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-01

hack il hardly seems credible that he should have
hccn able to force himself into such prominence.
For better or worse, his work must constitute 'ie
core Of every subsequent edition, and it X eXacty
thus that DR.. Coucs has used it. "Wh"t IS IN
these two Volumes says he, Is the original,
genuine and only authoritative history OF the
expedition which has come down TO rs Ana
yet, without giving a sign of having investigated
the point, directly in the face of Biddles own
Acknowledgement, he adds: tine author OF TINS
book is Nicholas Biddle, whose work was faced
prefaccd and defaced by one Paul Allen. We're
Paul Allen shown TO have been the ablectest per
son on earth. he would still deserve better than
this at the hands Of postery DR.. Coues mas
rcmedicd a great many defects, for example, in
punctuation But even Paul Aliens ghost might
laugh at these sentences concerning the result
Of a hunt in the neighborhood OF Fraziers Creek :;
Soon after we halted two of the hunters went
ont and returned with five deer, on which we
dned, with one big horn killed in coming
through the mountain and the elk left by Captain
Lewis We were again we'll supplied with fresh
meat Obviously the period in this case shoulu
have been put in after the word "dined. IL
is not credible that the party ate five deer,
Rocky Mountain sheep and an elk at one sitting
but it i. easily comprehensive, after dinner of
the five deer the hle horn and the elk, they were
well-supplicd with food.
A month or so after the publication of the
original work Biddlc announced TO Clark that it
had sold well. But either the prosperity did net
continue or the edition was too small for, aS has
leon remarked neither Csark himself nor Lewis 3
heirs realized any profit. MeaHwhilc popular
curiosity as 10 the expedition was great, both IN THIS
county and in Europe, and it was satisfied 30 lar rs
possible BY the publication and repatriation oil
journal kept by Sergeant Patrick GaSs, AMI by
long succession OF works cuIiolsly manufacturers
which DR.. Coues arranges as apocrlpHa. tH'l'
after the publication of the authentic history III
1914 these publications depended on the mes
sage of President Jefferson and the accompanying
cuiiients-thc last word from the explorers until
thcv returned to civilization-thc journal of Ser
eeant Gass and mass of material that was 'ald-
able enough for other parts OF the CONTINENT pu'
with no application TO TIE valleys OF the Nl'SoEr
and Columbia rivers. Dr. Couess analysis oil
those cxtraordinary frauds nearly AL Of which
seem TO have preceded the genuine WORK III pClht
Of time. is a remarkable feature OF his work Tie
ranripc History was repubishcd in London and
Dublin, translated into Dutch, and finally re-
nroduced in America i'll a revised and abridged
form bv IIalpcr & Bros which passed through
twenty-scvcn editions.
In the near foursc0re years which have passed.
away since the publication that gave Clark ana
Biddlc so much trouble the manner in when 'he
work was compiled had been forgotten. Dr. 'oues
eXpcctcd at the outset merely to supervise re-
print of the original text He placed the copy
in the printcrs hands. and then, in December,
1892, found himself in possession OF over thfcc
| thousand pages Of Lcwis's and Clarks manuscript
This material was in possession OF the PM sophc"
Society, AT Philadelphia, and was placed IN VIZ"
hands of DR.. Coues at the request of Jefferson N
Clark. General William Clarh's last surviving son
From these manuscript books the History has
been copiously annotated, and, where necessary
cIncnded One complete chapter has been made
I'D Of original material DR.. Cou"s pr"par u
memoirs Of Clark and Of Sergeant GaSS. III"
breaks i'm the itinerary originally given nav"
been filled up In addition, the cthnology, botany,
zoology. and so forth. Of the original have been
Interpreted and conn d in the scientific language
of the present day. Inc memoir of Captain
lewis i the one written by jefferson with a
sunplenent by Dr. Coues who following certain
investigators in Tennessee, maintains that Jcher-
son erred in supposng that Lewis killed himself
the local tradition being that he was murdered
| and robbed
The volumes contain portraits OF Lewis ana
Clark, fac-smiles OF their handwriting. SIX maps
from the edition of 1914. including Clarks own
chart Of the Journey and in addition 10 these
tracing copy Of the map forwarded by Lewis TO
President jefferson, and map by DIR. Coues pre-
pared for comparison with Clark's map.