A New Book Tells the Untold Stories of Lewis and Clark's Epic Journey

Most students learn about Lewis and Clark in elementary school. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led a team of explorers across North America from 1804 to 1806. But historian Craig Fehrman says the real story is far bigger than what most textbooks teach. His new book, 'This Vast Enterprise,' took five years to write and shines a light on the many people whose names history forgot.

Fehrman says the expedition was a true team effort. That team included York, an enslaved man forced to join by William Clark, and Sacagawea, a young Shoshone woman who helped guide the group. It also included soldiers like John Ordway, who did much of the hard physical work. Fehrman wanted readers to see all of them, not just the two famous captains.

York proved himself during the journey in many ways. He was one of the few members of the crew who could swim well — a rare and valuable skill in the 1800s. Because he was so useful, he slowly earned more respect. When the group reached the Pacific Ocean, York was even allowed to vote on where to set up winter camp.

Sacagawea had been kidnapped and enslaved as a child. She was pregnant and then nursing a baby for much of the trip. Fehrman spoke with Shoshone people today, including some of her descendants, to learn how she cared for her son. These small details help make her feel like a real person, not just a name in a history book.

Fehrman also had to deal with missing pieces of the historical record. Most of the journals were written by Lewis, Clark, and a few soldiers. That means much of what we know about Sacagawea and York comes from other people's points of view. Fehrman used words like 'must have' and 'surely' to carefully fill in those emotional gaps.

The science of the expedition was a huge part of the story. Lewis pressed plants between paper, studied animals, and wrote detailed reports for President Jefferson. Sacagawea helped Lewis identify plants and explained how her people used them. Fehrman says Lewis was one of the finest science writers America has ever produced.

The book also challenges a well-known claim: that only one person died on the expedition. Fehrman says that is only true if you count the American soldiers. At least eight Native leaders who traveled east to meet President Jefferson also died on the journey. Leaving them out gives an incomplete and unfair picture of what the expedition really cost.

The journals from the expedition are free to read online. A scholar named Gary Moulton spent more than 20 years editing the full collection. Together, the journals are over one million words long — longer than the Bible. Fehrman read through all of them at least three times while writing his book.