Ken Burns documents the journey of Lewis &
Clark from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back. Over three years. It
was a remarkable story of courage and determination. It is beautifully told
primarily through the journals of the men involved. Hal Holbrook narrates.
When you hear about what this small band of men had to go through just to
prove that it could be done it is amazing. Up the Missouri River, dealing
with Native tribes who had never seen a white man, near starvation, bleeding
feet, exhaustion, crossing the Rockies all loaded up with tons of supplies.
Only one man was to die from a disease.
President Jefferson sent them on this trip with a few goals in mind. Find
a Northwest river passage, a dream that had been hoped for for years. But
also to tell him and America what was out there. What was the topography
like, what were the Natives likes, what were the plants and animals. Fur
trappers may have crossed some of this land at times but they didn't report
on it. Jefferson wanted it mapped out. Meriwether Lewis was Jefferson's secretary
- a mini-Jefferson people called him with great intellect but no real experience
in the West. He suffered from depression and hypochondria and often it was
just a challenge to get up in the morning. He turned to his good friend William
Clark and asked him if he wanted to come along. With you anywhere, Clark
responded. They gathered 40 men, a dog and Clark's slave and went up the
Missouri with gifts for the Natives they expected to meet, food, whiskey,
guns and ammunition.
When they reached the Mandan tribe up the Missouri in what is now North Dakota
they asked for a guide to take them to the Shoshoni tribe where they hoped
to trade for horses to cross the mountains. A Mandan woman named Sacagawea
had been kidnapped from the Shoshoni tribe as a child but still thought she
could get them there and interpret. She, her husband and her just born baby
joined the expedition. All along the way they were met with friendly Natives
except the Sioux and on the way back the Black Feet. In November 1805 they
came to the Pacific. They had not discovered a Northwest passage. But they
had crossed America and upon their return America was to begin to follow
in their footsteps.
Jefferson had estimated that it would take 100 generations to fill the land
and that they could live peacefully with the natives. He was of course wrong.
It took five generations as immigrants flocked to the country. And we know
how we dealt with the Natives. For someone who hates even going to the grocery
store down the street, it just is incredible to me what it took for these
man to do what they did. Back then it was like going to the moon. When they
returned they were heroes. People were sure they had died. It took the slave
five years before Clark would free him. Clark became the head of Indian Affairs.
Lewis became the Governor of the Louisiana Purchase territory. But his ills
and depression caught up with him and in 1809 he shot himself and died. A
sad end to a great man. No matter what came after or what you think of it,
these men did remarkable things.
Two episodes. 3.5 hours in total.
