Traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail by Julie Fanselow, and: Adventuring along the Lewis and Clark Trail by Elizabeth Grossman

Abstract

concise (an average of three per page), orga nized alphabetically by common name, each including information on where the species was observed or collected, natural history notes, Native American uses, and present conservation statusof the species.Here are found theauthor's marvelous black-and-white drawings of birds, mammals, reptiles, and fish. Several plants are also illustrated in each section. One cannot write a natural history and omit plants, but botany is not the author's strength,and there is a strong suggestion inhis acknowledgments thatplantswere added as an afterthought. Johnsgardhas limited himself to those plants for which herbarium material still exists,and because most of theplants collected between theMandan over-wintering site and Great Fallswere lostwhen a cache was flooded, we have very poor herbarium records ofMeri wether Lewis's springtime collections on the Great Plains. The expedition's most important plant collections and descriptions were from areas west of theRockies and are thus beyond thebook's geographic scope. The book's final section is a detailed com pendium of Lewis and Clark sitesof biological and historic interest in the central and upper Missouri Valley. Here travelers or aficionados will find currentdescriptions of areas associated with the Corps of Discovery, including driv ing instructions andWeb site sources. Again, Johnsgard's intimate knowledge of the region and his appreciation for the land and itsvegeta tion,animals, and indigenous people isevident. In all, this isa thoroughly enjoyable and useful addition toyour Lewis and Clark bookshelf and one that will also fit comfortably in a backpack or glove compartment. Traveling theLewis and Clark Trail Thirdedition By JulieFanselow Falcon Publishing, Guilford, Conn., 2003. Photographs, maps, index. 336 pages. $15.95 paper. Adventuring along theLewis and Clark Trail by Elizabeth Grossman Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 2003. Photographs, maps, notes, bibliography, index. 296 pages. $16.95 paper. Reviewed byKen DuBois Oregon Historical Society,Portland While guidebooks about theLewis and Clark Trail steer travelers toward geo graphic locations, inevitably they also reflect differingperceptions of a nation permanently changed ? for better or worse ? since the Corps of Discovery made their journey two hundred years ago. Just as many nineteenth-century American landscape painterswere careful to include a hu man presence in even the most remote natural scenes, JulieFanselow's Traveling theLewis and Clark Trail provides readerswith the assurance that theirconnection to civilizationwill be un broken as theyventure into the West. This is the primary purpose of the book, and so, broadly speaking, theauthor isextremelysuccessful.She succeeds as well in illustrating the abundant educational opportunities along theway. One Reviews 535 could become an authorityon Lewis and Clark, itseems, from thecumulative effect ofhistorical markers alone. Traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail,published as part of theFalcon Guide series, isdesigned to be a comprehensive manual on basic comforts, recreation, scenery, and points of historical in terestat almost every stage of the trail from St. Louis, Missouri, to theOregon coast. Included are driving directions, basic road maps, recom mended restaurants and lodging, information on biking and hiking trails,details aboutmuse ums and interpretivecenters, and descriptions of a staggeringnumber ofLewis and Clark com memorative sites and historic re-creations. With interestinthebicentennial almost guaranteed to increase in coming years, Fanselow's tipsmay also serve as a warning for some travelers. On the Nebraska-South Dakota border, forexample, she explains that"thereare probably a thousand ormore campsites surrounding Lewis and Clark Lake, but since theymanage to fill up fast on many summer weekends, it's important to stake a place early" (p. 75). Shopping malls, golf courses, and other modern amusements are included in Fanselow's guidebook, but the author deserves credit for creating a guide that never strays far from its subject. Almost every page contains a reference to theCorps ofDiscovery's journey, and there are interesting and well-told Lewis and Clark stories throughout.While making no pretense that travelerswill share theCorps's experience in any sense, Fanselow does make the case that modern-day travelers can find their own adven tures,especially by using backcountry highways and enjoying the rural communities along the way. The simple pleasures of small-town lifeand the scenery between such spotsmay inadver tentlybring travelersback to bygone America in a way no historical marker can. An...