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Reviews
Wilderness Journey: The Life of William Clark
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By Donald J. Pisani
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University of Missouri Press, Columbia, 2004. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. 343 pages. $29.95 cloth.
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William Clark and the Shaping of the West
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Landon Y. Jones
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Hill and Wang, New York, 2004. Maps, notes, bibliography, index. 394 pages. $25.00 cloth.
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Reviewed by J. Frederick Fausz
University of Missouri–St. Louis
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| After two centuries without a comprehensive biography of William Clark, two appeared almost simultaneously in 2004 — written by experts with strong and long Missouri connections. Both of these biographies are thoroughly researched, well-written studies that make their long-neglected subject come alive for scholars and general readers alike. William E. Foley is a retired professor of history and author of several scholarly works, while Landon Y. Jones is a nationally known author and editor. Given the different backgrounds and writing styles of the authors, these two books complement one another and when read together provide the fullest accounting of a complex man. |
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Although the bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition inspired the publication of these biographies, both Foley and Jones focus their attention on Clark's life before and especially after his service with the Corps of Discovery. Foley writes that "important as it was, the Voyage of Discovery represents only a single episode in what was for Clark a lengthy wilderness journey" (p. x). Similarly, Jones argues that "for all its mythic stature, the expedition was not a self-contained episode. It was intimately connected to William Clark's earlier experiences on the culturally porous borderlands and to the larger agendas of international empire-building" that succeeded it (p. 114). Consequently, Jones devotes one 33-page chapter to the Lewis and Clark Expedition that highlights selected episodes rather than providing a chronological narrative of the whole. Foley covers the expedition in a more detailed 110-page synopsis over four chapters. |
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Among dozens of publications about the Corps of Discovery, old and new, no previous books so thoroughly document the rest of "Billy" Clark's long life (1770–1838). Both authors provide pertinent new details about his famous family and early military career prior to the Louisiana Purchase. They agree that his formative years in Virginia and Kentucky had an enduring influence on the young man — especially the inspiring example of his older brother, George Rogers Clark. Foley's account of this early "apprenticeship" is comprehensive and reliable, but Jones's presentation is truly gripping, resplendent with graphic gore in detailing the brutal, atrocity-ridden conquests of Indians in the trans-Appalachian West. Clark's military experiences in this period were crucial in shaping his views on leadership, duty, and America's "Empire of Liberty" that expanded methodically across former territories of conquered Indians. |
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If Clark's life before the Louisiana Purchase helped prepare him for survival and success during the famous expedition, both Foley and Jones agree that his subsequent thirty-two year career constituted his greatest contribution to American history. Based in St. Louis for the rest of his life, Clark dominated Indian affairs in the trans-Mississippi West, serving six presidents from Jefferson to Van Buren. He personally negotiated and signed thirty-seven treaties with dozens of Indian tribes,"more than anyone in American history" (Jones, p. 326) — most of which dispossessed and removed well over one hundred thousand Indians from traditional homelands. |
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Both biographers portray their subject fully and accurately — warts and all — making effective use of ethnohistorical sensitivity in analyzing intercultural relations. They see Clark as a loyal government official and dedicated Jeffersonian who never deviated from traditional policies of "pacifying" frontiers by crushing hostile Indians, taking their lands, and expecting them to alter their lifeways according to U.S. dictates. In fulfilling the obligations of biographers, these authors also critically evaluate Clark's attitudes on slavery in general and his shameful post-expedition treatment of York in particular. Foley writes that "Clark's insistence that York abandon his family and take up residence in St. Louis, his willingness to place his surplus slaves in the service of strangers, ... and ... equating the death of a slave child with the loss of a horse, all speak volumes to his callous indifference" in race relations (p. 167). Referring to Clark's often shocking beliefs and behavior regarding people of color, Jones concludes that the "cruelties of Clark's time and the strength of his character did not contradict one another; they lived within him" (p. 327). |
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The reader is the winner when two such skillful biographers cover the same ground but with varying depth and emphasis. Foley displays his expertise on early Missouri politics in evaluating Clark as a veteran politician who never won an election, and both authors splendidly describe the rewarding, demanding, and frequently tragic aspects of Clark's personal life as a son, brother, husband, and father. There are surprisingly few disagreements in these biographies and few factual errors in either one. (Marais Castor — Beaver Pond — is the correct name of Clark's estate, not Marias Castor, as found in Foley's text). |
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Both authors adhere to the most accepted, "safest" interpretations of controversial issues — such as the date of Sacagawea's death (1812 over 1884), the tribal affiliation of the Indians who attacked Lewis's party in July 1806 (Blackfeet instead of the Atsina), whether Clark fathered Indian children (mentioned, not pursued), and the rumored suicide of Lewis (fully accepted). By implying certitude and consensus, when recent historiography reflects doubt and debate on these issues, the authors do a disservice to serious readers by not mentioning the persistent, and sometimes persuasive, alternative judgments of other historians. One would have hoped for a more critical evaluation of Lewis's controversial death, since the apparent callousness of his dearest friend in failing to investigate or at least to retrieve the body for proper Christian/Masonic burial implies a serious character flaw in Clark. |
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It took nearly two centuries for the government to grant William Clark his long-deferred captain's commission, but these excellent biographies will make it impossible to slight him in the future. The significant achievements of his full life and complete career merit an elevated stature and individual recognition separate from the Lewis-and-Clark partnership. |
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