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Reviews
Lewis and Clark Trail Maps: A Cartographic Reconstruction
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Volumes I, II, and III
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By Martin Plamondon II
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Washington State University Press, Pullman, 2000, 2001, 2004. Maps, illustrations (volume III only), index. 208 pages, 240 pages, 256 pages. $75.00 cloth. $75.00 spiral-bound. $55.00 paper.
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Reviewed by Stephanie Ambrose Tubbs
Helena, Montana
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| The Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote that one cannot step twice into the same river. Mapmaker Martin Plamondon would surely agree. His three-volume work paints rivers as living, wandering, unpredictable forces of nature that changed their course even in the span of one or two seasons and certainly in the 200 years since the necessarily hurried survey made by William Clark. As an experienced cartographer himself, Plamondon takes the maps made by William Clark and shows where and why the rivers and landscapes have changed. The maps are valuable works as much for their detail as for the sentiment behind them. "I had to map it" Plamondon said in an interview. "It's the only way to preserve it" (Ken Olsen, "All that Remains; A Cartographer's Quest to Recreate the Trail," Washington State Magazine, Summer 2004). |
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The unique talent of a mapmaker is to make familiar the unfamiliar, whether we are poring over their work in the comfort of our living rooms or squinting at their lines out in the windy field. These volumes accomplish that task on several levels. In terms of sheer devotion to his project, Martin Plamondon deserves respect. He spent twenty-seven years working on the 530 hand-drawn maps that he compiled by consulting nearly every form of geologic and topographic data on the area covered by the trail and then comparing them with Clark's originals. Experts may dispute some of his cartographical findings and techniques, especially with regard to campsite locations; but, most significantly, Plamondon's maps show the original river channels that existed in the 1800s. He accompanies the maps with some of the most illuminating quotes from the journals and offers his own insightful observations throughout. |
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To be sure, these maps offer more than his location of campsites. Plamondon shows us where Clark erred (he writes that the Captain was off by some 1,116 miles) and why (according to Plamondon, he relied heavily on inaccurate methods and instruments). He indicates that Lewis was "nearly useless" as a mapmaker (vol. 2, p. 94). He touches on familiar themes and wisely avoids others. On the spelling of the name of Sacagawea he writes: "Having the sharply limited space of a mere 500 maps the cartographer shall not venture upon that shaky ground" (vol. 2, p. 72). When he is unsure of a location, Plamondon writes humbly: "the cartographer offers his apology" (vol. 2, p. 109). When he describes the decline of salmon populations and other results of dams and development, it is clear that Plamondon wants his maps to help those individuals, groups, and agencies struggling to restore wild salmon runs. Starting on page one, volume one, he tells readers: "Twenty four major dams along the route have created over 1,200 miles of reservoir waters." |
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A careful reading of these volumes reveals Plamondon's wide range of knowledge on all aspects of the expedition. For instance, he does not believe the men were ever totally naked while pulling the canoes up the Jefferson River. He defends the character of the often deemed worthless Toussaint Charbonneau. He offers plausible explanations for the Natives' failure to mention the Marias River, the meanderings of the Corps on Lost Trail Pass, and shows us where historical markers are misplaced. Plamondon wisely chose to leave out specific locations of cultural sites that might be disturbed by treasure hunters. His maps and supplemental text are particularly useful on the return trip's alternate routes, including who took them and why. Along with the 530 trail maps, the cartographer included seventy-three index maps, seventeen special maps, and seven sketches and charts, all of which he insisted on doing by hand. |
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Readers will appreciate these volumes and the maps they contain for their rich detail and for the author's unique sense of humor in naming each map after a particular journal incident or location. The "Lewis Not Amused" map 315 refers to the famous puppy-in-the-plate incident. |
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The index in volumes one and two are most helpful. Volume 3 includes an interesting table of who wrote in their journal and when. |
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As many seasoned canoeists will testify, to grasp the Lewis and Clark trail you have to get out on the water and into the woods to see, smell, hear, taste, and experience what it was like for the Corps. One such expert told me he thought Martin's maps are the closest one can get to being transported back in time without going out on the trail. (The eighteen-inch by twenty-four-inch originals will soon be available to scholars at the Sherman Library at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana.) |
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Plamondon provides us with more than a measuring of distances and an accounting of place-names and cataloging of campsite locations. As his dedications clearly state, with these volumes he is essentially paying tribute from one old mapmaker to the other. Thanks to Martin and those who saw his darling project through. Captain Clark would be pleased. |
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