Before Lewis and Clark

Book excerpt: For Before Lewis and Clark, A. P. Nasatir translated and annotated 239 documents relating to the history of the exploration of the Missouri River through 1804, when Lewis and Clark began their ascent of the waterway. The value of this collection is in the range of documents Nasatir included, some of which are unavailable elsewhere. The volume also includes seven maps; two facsimile illustrations; and an excerpt from the journal of Jean Baptiste Truteau, the Canadian-born explorer whose record of his 1794-95 travels proved valuable to Lewis and Clark. This edition marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first publication of Nasatir’s landmark document collection. Five fold-out maps omitted from the most recent paperback edition have been restored for this one-volume edition.