Listen to the dedication.
"This book is written / because we respect our ancestors / and the people here today / and the generations yet to come."
Listen to the second excerpt.
"On September 4th, 1805, a large band of Salish people was encamped at one of the traditional places in the upper Bitterroot Valley . . ."
Listen to the third excerpt.
"Lewis and Clark now figure prominently at the beginning of nearly every U.S. history textbook. Even today, the word 'discovery' pervades most Lewis and Clark materials, and it animates the tourist packages shuttling visitors to every point along the expedition’s route. . . ."
Listen to the fourth excerpt.
"This span of time is so immense that it forces us to reconsider how small a portion of the history we know today. . . ."
Listen to the fifth excerpt.
"This is what I am telling. Then when I thought about it, I think it's about three hundred or four hundred snows ago, and even beyond that time, is what I am telling you about. . . ."
Listen to the sixth excerpt.
"From that time on, it became known that the white people had laws. . . ."
Listen to the seventh excerpt.
"As Mitch Smallsalmon told us: Of course, long ago the Indian people lived all over here and were happy . . ."
Listen to the eighth excerpt.
"In Part I, we saw that in 1805, when Lewis and Clark make their way to the homeland of the Salish and Pend d’Oreille people, they entered into an ancient, and richly developed, cultural world. . . ."
Listen to the ninth excerpt.
"In later years, the Salish and many other tribes would belatedly discover the real purpose of the expedition—the assertion of dominion over Indian lands and Indian peoples, and the commercial exploitation of Indian resources. . . ."
Listen to the tenth excerpt.
"As we can see, both tribal elders and non-Indian storytellers reflect the confusion of these interactions. . . ."
Excerpts from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press). Read by poet William Kloefkorn:
Listen to the Sunday May 26, 1805 entry by Meriwether Lewis.
". . . on arriving to the summit one of the highest points in the neighbourhood I thought myself well repaid for any labour; as from this point I beheld the Rocky Mountains for the first time . . ."
Listen to the Wednesday May 29, 1805 entry by Meriwether Lewis (part 1).
". . . [the buffalo] then alarmed ran up the bank in full speed directly towards the fires, and was within 18 inches of the heads of some of the men who lay sleeping . . ."
Listen to the Wednesday May 29, 1805 entry by Meriwether Lewis (part 2).
"in this manner the Indians of the Missouri distroy vast herds of buffaloe at a stroke; for this purpose one of the most active and fleet young men is scelected . . ."
Listen to the Friday May 31, 1805 entry by Meriwether Lewis. ". . . in short their labour is incredibly painfull and great, yet those faithfull fellows bear it without a murmur."
Listen to the Sunday June 2, 1805 entry by Meriwether Lewis. ". . . I walked onshore most of the day with some of the hunters for that purpose and killed 6 Elk 2 buffale 2 Mule deer and a bear. . . ."
Listen to the Monday June 3, 1805 entry by Meriwether Lewis. "This morning early we passed over and formed a camp on the point formed by the junction of the two large rivers. . . ."
Listen to the Friday June 14, 1805 entry by Meriwether Lewis (part 1).
"hearing a tremendious roaring above me I continued my rout across the point of a hill a few hundred yards further and was again presented by one of the most beatifull objects in nature . . ."
Listen to the Friday June 14, 1805 entry by Meriwether Lewis (part 2). ". . . having entirely forgotton to reload my rifle, a large white, or reather brown bear, had perceived and crept on me within 20 steps before I discovered him . . ."
Listen to the Thursday June 20, 1805 entry by William Clark. ". . . we all believe that we are about to enter on the most perilous and dificuelt part of our Voyage, yet I See no one repineing . . ."
