History Commons^™

Dissecting The Columbia: Lewis And Clark West Of The Divide, William L. Lang

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduces a special issue of the 'Oregon Historical Quarterly' on the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the area west of the Continental Divide. The issue deals with the explorers' descriptions of the Columbia River Basin and its flora, fauna, native people, and geography; the accuracy of their scientific observations; their geographic discoveries; and other topics.

Describing A New Environment: Lewis And Clark And Enlightenment Science In The Columbia River Basin, William L. Lang

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

As part of a special issue of the 'Oregon Historical Quarterly,' examines the scientific aspect of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, focusing on the gathering, cataloging, and describing of plants and animals in the Columbia River Basin. Instructed by Thomas Jefferson to gather information on new species of plants and animals, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark collected specimens as they crossed the Continental Divide and entered the Columbia River Basin. Although Lewis generally held a negative view of the Indians the expedition encountered, he recorded their use of fish, plants, and game animals, and the Corps of Discovery traded with …

York Of The Corps Of Discovery, Darrell Millner

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Assesses the scholarship dealing with York, William Clark's slave, who was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Two schools of writing developed regarding York. The "Sambo" school dominated his depiction for almost two centuries and publications at the turn of the 21st century still saw York in racist terms, as a slave grateful for his status. At the other extreme is the "superhero" school that describes York in heroic terms, rescuing Clark from peril, fluent in French, tall in height. Both schools are grounded in stereotypes and poor scholarship. The best source for establishing a historically accurate York …

Lewis And Clark And The American Century: A Review Of Ken Burns's Pbs Series On The Corps Of Discovery, William L. Lang

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviews Ken Burns's 1997 public television documentary on the Lewis and Clark expedition, 'Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery.' In his documentaries Burns seeks not just the "dry relation of fact," but a portrayal of the emotional truth of the historical event that allows viewers to connect with it as human drama. Burns has exploited well the inherent drama of the expedition's story to produce a compelling documentary. Rather than labeling it a work of history, based on explanation through critical inquiry, it is better seen as a "heritage" film. The latter identifies and celebrates virtues …

Sacagawea : The History Of A Myth, William Jeffrey Patten

Dissertations and Theses

Sacagawea, the Indian woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition has been one of the most romanticized figures in Western history. Although Sacagawea received little attention following the Corps of Discovery's return to the United States, she was rediscovered by writers associated with the women's suffrage movement at the end of the nineteenth century. The development of the enduring American legend that formed around Sacagawea was an Anglo-American and twentieth century phenomenon. In myth, she was given credit for the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and over time she became its savior and leader.

It is the …

Lewis And Clark At Fort Clatsop: A Winter Of Environmental Discomfort And Cultural Misunderstandings, Kirk Alan Garrison

Dissertations and Theses

Members of the Lewis and Clark expedition did not like the 1805-1806 winter they spent at Fort Clatsop near the mouth of the Columbia River among the Lower Chinookan Indians, for two reasons. First, the environment west of the Rocky Mountains was unlike anything they had ever experienced or imagined, and it had such a powerful effect on the whites as to negatively influence their attitudes regarding the western landscape, and to prejudice the explorers against the peoples living in that environment.

Second, the cultures of the Lower Chinook Indians and the whites were so different that often neither group …

Lewis And Clark On The Columbia River: The Power Of Landscape In The Exploration Experience, William L. Lang

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

During their 1804-06 transcontinental expedition, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark expected that the Columbia River and its tributaries would provide relatively easy passage to the Pacific Coast. Instead, they encountered a formidable barrier of raging waters and disjunctive ecological zones. Continuous frustrations caused the explorers to offer harsh judgments of the landscape and some of the Indians, whom they labeled as primitive and treacherous. These descriptions contrasted greatly with their more positive portrayals of landscape and peoples encountered elsewhere during the trip.