{"product_id":"the-character-of-meriwether-lewis-explorer-in-the-wilderness-1","title":"The Character of Meriwether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness","description":"Meriwether Lewis commanded the most important exploration mission in the early history of the United States. Clay S. Jenkinson takes a fresh look at Lewis  not to offer a paper cutout hero but to describe and explain a hyperserious young man of great complexity who found the wilderness of Upper Louisiana as exacting as it was exhilarating. Jenkinson sees Lewis as a troubled soul before he left St. Charles  Missouri  in May 1804. His experiences in lands \"upon which the foot of civilized man had never trodden\" further fractured his sense of himself. His hiring William Clark as his \"partner in discovery\" was  Jenkinson shows  the most intelligent decision he ever made. When Clark was nearby  Lewiss leadership was stable and productive. When Clark was absent and thus unable to provide a calming influence on his mercurial friend  Lewis tended to get into trouble. Jenkinson argues that if Clark had been with Lewis on the Natchez Trace  the governor of Upper Louisiana would not have killed himself. Jenkinson sees Lewiss 1809 suicide not as an inexplicable mystery  but the culmination of a series of pressures that extend back to the expedition and perhaps even earlier. The Character of Meriwether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness is a revision of an earlier book  greatly expanded with new scholarship and insights gained through Jenkinsons extensive participation in the Lewis and Clark Expedition Bicentennial. Jenkinson discusses Lewiss sense of humor  his oft-stated fear that the expedition he was leading might collapse  his self-conscious learnedness  and his inability to re-enter \"polite society\" after his return. The book attempts to reconstruct from Lewiss journal entries and letters his rich  troubled personality and his aspirations to heroism. When the American mythology surrounding him is removed and Lewis is allowed to reveal himself  he emerges as a fuller  more human  and endlessly fascinating explorer.","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44895576752181,"sku":"ByrdShop_0982559720","price":690.88,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/ByrdShop_0982559720_ad9788d1-0930-4a04-9910-9e3f225a7eb1.jpg?v=1767522786","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-character-of-meriwether-lewis-explorer-in-the-wilderness-1","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}