Featured Books

American Monster: How the Nation's First Prehistoric Creature Became a Symbol of National Identity
by Paul Semonin
American Monster by Paul Semonin is a very readable account of the beginnings of American paleontology and the adoption of the prehistoric Mastodon as America's symbolic identity.  Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were both sent to Big Bone Lick near Cincinnati in Covington, Kentucky to collect mastodon bones for the President.  George Rogers Clark had a mastodon bone couch on his front porch. Early travelers on the Oregon and California and Mormon Trails said they were "going to see the elephant."
Charles Willson Peale in his famous museum on the second floor of Independence Hall displayed a mastodon specimen as well as the artifacts collected by Lewis and Clark.

Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America (Book & DVD)
by Ron Lowery

If you want to visually understand the Lewis and Clark Trail, the book and this video do a better job of showcasing the route across America than any other source. The video is not only beautiful, it also reveals how it was accomplished, from the building of the plane (specially designed for photography) from a kit, to the planning of the journey, and the logistics of their 3 month, 14,000 mile journey by land and and air across America.

Ron Lowery is a master photographer. He was determined to show just exactly where the trail went, and how beautiful it looks from the air. His wife Sue and the kids and dog kept the whole enterprise together by following the plane in their RV, carrying fuel, tools and spare parts. Ron was in the air before dawn most mornings taking pictures in the early morning light. He describes his plane as a "tripod in the sky."

If you love the book, you will really enjoy getting to know the Lowery family and their partner Mary Walker, the author of the book text, as they travel across the country. One of the treats is seeing the little dachshund Jack chasing grasshoppers and prairie dogs and having the dog experience of a lifetime exploring America. It makes us realize how much fun it must have been to have Seaman the Newfoundland dog along on the original journey.

The music is nice to listen to, and the video is well worth owning. I would recommend that interpretive centers make arrangements to use it as a permanent exhibit. The book and DVD are truly some of the lasting legacies of the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Here are the links to buy the Chasing Lewis and Clark Across America.

hardcover

 softcover

DVD

Sacagawea's Child: The Life and Times of Jean-Baptiste (Pomp) Charbonneau
by Susan Colby

The author has thoroughly researched her subject, and presents a fascinating, well written account of Sacagawea and her family, filled with colorful insights. One of the finest books ever written on this time period. It includes many dramatic events and famous personalities of the early American West, beginning with the story of Sacagawea, her husband Toussaint Charbonneau, and their baby as members of the Lewis and Clark Expedtion. It then focuses on the life of their son: Pomp's adoption by William Clark and subsequent schooling in St Louis; six years exploring Europe with a German prince; years as a mountain man and guide in the Rocky Mountains; scout services for the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican-American War; appointment as a government official at the San Luis Mission north of San Diego after the war; and later years as a prospector for gold and innkeeper of "Murderer's Inn" during the California Gold Rush. Published in 2005 as part of the Western Frontiersmen Series of the Arthur H. Clark Company.

Here is the link to buy Sacagawea's Child at Amazon through our Amazon Affiliate bookstore.