Last week we watched the two-part Ken Burns documentary on the journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark when they crossed the American continent from where it was settled in Missouri to the Pacific Ocean in 1804-06.
Naturally coming from the Pacific Northwest, I knew the story pretty well. It's part of our education out here and the Northwest is full of signs telling you Lewis and Clark stopped here or there. It can almost become a joke as you drive up the Gorge, through Washington and Idaho into Montana. Any little possible location is marked.
We got this documentary from Netflix watching it over two nights. I didn't expect to learn really anything but I did-- or at least was reminded of things I had forgotten.
It was told through the letters of those on the Corp of Discovery expedition and not just Lewis and Clark. Their words were read by various actors. They didn't use make believe actors to act out any scenes but used old photos (naturally none from the actual trip but there were sketches), scenery and the letters to tell the story. The two captains and 32 men (those numbers vary as to how many started out and a few went back with samples thus not making the full journey) began the trip. They then added Sacajawea (spelling and pronunciation of her name also varies), her baby, and her husband.
When you think about the daring involved with this, it's pretty amazing and even more so that although they nearly lost their lives several times, the expedition returned having lost only one man who died of something that might have killed him in those days even with doctors handy (possible burst appendix).
The idea was Thomas Jefferson's. He had just acquired the Louisiana Purchase which, as would be the case today, was not popular with those who didn't like the idea of expanding the government's reach. Jefferson wanted to know what lay out there, get maps and have the expedition keep journals and do a scientific exploration as well as establish friendly relationships with the Native American tribes along the way.
The film is beautifully done with scenery that looks a lot like they would have seen. How they found all that had to be a challenge of its own as most of that country is inhabited today even if sparsely.
There were some disillusioning things about it. Like we want to see men like William Clark as heroic in all areas because they were in a big one. But how he treated his slave, York, who had been brought along as an equal member of the party but was refused his freedom as a reward when he returned with them, well it was less than admirable. After five years, Clark finally relented but mostly it was from pressure by York and not out of the goodness of his heart. He didn't want to lose such a valuable slave. Well couldn't he have paid him a salary commensurate with that value?
And then there is the depression of Meriwether Lewis who died presumably from suicide only three years after they returned. There is some controversy over that suicide since it was in a dangerous region called the Nachez Trace. I have a book which makes a good case for it being murder, but Lewis had well known problems with severe depression and had previously tried to kill himself. His being shot twice, once in the chest and once in the head doesn't mean he couldn't have done it. In those days there really weren't good solutions to severe depression and Lewis had probably felt he had the greatest success of his life at 32 with only downhill to go. Who knows but it was a sad end to his life whatever the truth of his death.
The kind of courage and stamina that it took to do such a journey in a time when if you ran into trouble, you couldn't ring home for help, well it is indeed impressive and to leave on a trip where you really didn't know where you were going exactly, well it was very courageous. Their only backup was their wits and what they brought with them.
Their investigative trip began the opening up of the region which would have happened anyway with the westward thrust of this country; but this helped people to understand what was out there and laid groundwork for someday getting Oregon Territory from the control of the British.
You know, the plus of watching such a documentary is feeling uplifted by what men and women can do. We need inspiration. I think it's even healthy to realize the noblest of people have their own failings. It's kind of the whole picture of man's potential and the pitfalls for which he must beware. The other thing is-- in what a wonderful country for beauty we have been blessed to live. I have seen a lot of the places along their path and it's as beautiful as this movie portrays it.
5 comments:
I really like Ken Burns projects and did not know about this one. Since I grew up in Colorado not far from the "keyhole in the Devil's backbone" we also hear a lot about Sacajawea and our library had numerous books about her.
Going to guess at this one, but did he use two pistols to shoot himself? Seems hard to believe you could shoot yourself in the chest and then reload, likely needing 2 hands to do so, and then shoot yourself in the head. Those were typically pretty big caliber weapons and it seems it would be pretty difficult to do after that much damage. But I am not an expert.
I LOVE the way Ken Burns does his Documentary's---it is usually with letters and actors reading the letters, which enriches the whole experience of the storry he is telling, in my opinion....!
I honestly did not know some of the things you mentioned. I've not seen this one and I thank you for the review Rain---it is going on my Netflix Queue...!
Well it was an area known for murdering strangers. What convinced people that he did it was that he'd tried before and had this problem with severe depression. I do though have a whole book making the case that he was murdered. I think you could shoot yourself in the chest but not instantly deadly and then still do the head picking up a second gun. It's likely one of those mysteries of life that will never be resolved. He'd had a lot of failures after his huge success. Sad whatever the case.
I think I'll check this documentary out on Netflix, rain. It really does sound interesting. I've crossed the country many times, but can't imagine what it would have been like when it was still a wilderness.
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