William Clark and the shaping of the West / Landon Y. Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jones, Landon Y., 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Clark, William, 1770-1838.

Clark, William.

Clark, George Rogers, 1752-1818.

Clark, George Rogers.

Clark family.

Explorers--West (U.S.)--Biography.

Explorers.

Governors.

Missouri.

Governors--Missouri--Biography.

Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.).

Frontier and pioneer life.

Indians of North America--Wars--1750-1815.

Indians of North America.

Indians of North America--Wars.

Indians of North America--Wars--1815-1875.

Indians of North America--Wars--West (U.S.).

West (U.S.)--Discovery and exploration.

West (U.S.).

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

394 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Hill and Wang, 2004.

Summary:

Between 1803 and 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark co-captained the most famous expedition in American history. But while Lewis ended his life just three years later, Clark, as the highest-ranking federal official in the West, spent three decades overseeing the expedition's consequences: Indian removal and the destruction of Native America. In a rare combination of storytelling and scholarship, bestselling author Landon Y. Jones presents for the first time Clark's remarkable life and influential career in their full complexity.

Like every colonial family living on the trans-Appalachian frontier, the Clarks killed Indians and acquired land. Acting on behalf of the United States, William Clark would prove successful at both. Clark's life was spent fighting in America's fifty-year running war with the Indians (and their European allies) over the western borderlands. The struggle began with his brother George Rogers Clark's western campaigns during the American Revolution, continued through the vicious battles of the War of 1812 and the Arikara War on the plains in the 1820s, and ended with the Black Hawk War in the 1830s. In vividly depicting Clark's life, Jones memorably captures not only the dark and bloody ground of America's early West, but also the qualities of character and courage that made him an unequaled leader in America's grander enterprise: the shaping of the West. No one played a larger part in that accomplishment than William Clark. William Clark and the Shaping of the West is an unforgettable human story that encompasses in a single life the sweep of American history from colonial Virginia to the conquest of the West.

Contents:

A dark and bloody ground

1. America's first west: 1722-1772

2. General George Rogers Clark: 1772-1789

3. Lieutenant Billy Clark: 1789-1795

4. Soldier and citizen: 1795-1803

5. "Ocian in view! O! the joy!":1803-1806

6. This wild country: 1806-1809

7. Life without Lewis: 1809-1813

8. Territorial governor: 1813-1820

9. "The red-headed chief": 1820-1829

10. Resistance and removal: 1829-1838.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [335]-373) and index.

ISBN:

0809030411

OCLC:

53987025

Online:

Publisher description