The forgotten expedition, 1804-1805
Subtitle: the Louisiana Purchase journals of Dunbar and Hunter
By: edited by Trey Berry, Pam Beasley, and Jeanne Clements.
Contributors: Hunter, George, fl. 1804-1805.; Berry, Trey.; Beasley, Pam.; Clements, Jeanne.
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Baton Rouge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 248
Subjects: Dunbar, William, 1749-1810 -- Diaries.; Hunter, George, fl. 1804-1805 -- Diaries.; Louisiana Purchase.; Explorers -- Southwest, Old -- Diaries.; Ouachita River Region (Ark. and La.) -- Discovery and exploration.
Genres: Diaries.
Description: "At the same time that he charged Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the great Northwest, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned William Dunbar and George Hunter to make a parallel journey through the southern unmapped regions of the Louisiana Purchase. From October 16, 1804, to January 26, 1805, Dunbar and Hunter, both renowned scientists, made their way through what is now northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, ascending the Ouachita River and investigating the natural curiosity called "the hot springs." Though Hunter and Dunbar's journals have the same value and appeal as Lewis's, theirs have long been out of print and have never been published in a single volume. Their daily accounts now appear together, enhanced by a wealth of useful notes."

"The team of the "Grand Expedition," as it was optimistically named, was the first to send its findings on the newly annexed territory to the president, who received Dunbar and Hunter's detailed journals with pleasure. They include descriptions of flora and fauna, geology, weather, landscapes, and native peoples and European settlers, as well as astronomical and navigational records that allowed the first accurate English maps of the region and its waterways to be produced. Their scientific experiments conducted at the hot springs may be among the first to discover a microscopic phenomena still under research today."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: October 1804; title: November 1804; title: December 1804; title: January 1805; title: February-March 1805; title: Explanation of navigational techniques; title: Notes on sources and and editorial process.