Status
Available
Publication
[Charlottesville, Va.] : Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2000.
Description
James P. Ronda, H.G. Barnard Professor in Western History at the University of Tulsa, retells this compelling part of the American story by contrasting the expectations of Thomas Jefferson had for the expedition with what Captains Clark and Lewis actually experienced during their journey.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ksmyth
This book is a snapshot of current conceptions of Jefferson's view of the West. Ronda's view is that Jefferson was always drawn to the west as an engine of continued peaceful progress in the new republic, and that it was vital that Americans have a true picture of that geography. Yet, Jefferson's
Ronda lays out a firm foundation in current scholarship about the west. This small volume (72 pages) is nicely illustrated and though rooted in scholarly thinking is very accessible.
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understanding of the west was rooted in his own limited knowledge of eastern geography. When he authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition, the "geography of the mind" came into conflict with the "geography of reality." The single line of mountains (the Blue Ridge) was not the same as the ranks of mountains that formed the Rockies, Bitteroots and Cascades. The east traversed by easily navigable rivers (Potomac, Ohio, Mississippi, did not have a western equivalent. The myths that Jefferson hoped to establish in fact--Welsh speaking Indians, mastodons and a land of volcanoes also were untrue. Even Jefferson's conception of Indians as lower on the social evolutionary chain, who would respect the authority and power of the Great Father, was not correct. Ronda lays out a firm foundation in current scholarship about the west. This small volume (72 pages) is nicely illustrated and though rooted in scholarly thinking is very accessible.
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