Voyage of Rediscovery: Exploring the New West in the Footsteps of Lewis & Clark

More than two centuries ago, President Thomas Jefferson sent a hardy band of explorers on an unparalleled voyage of discovery across uncharted America. Members of the Lewis and Clark expedition were the first U.S. citizens to cross the Continental Divide, the first to reach the Pacific by land, the first to map the landscape that would someday become central to the nation's identity. They also were the last to describe the West before it underwent radical change at the hands of traders, trappers, soldiers and settlers. As the 2003-2006 bicentennial of the expedition approached, veteran journalist John Krist set out to retrace the explorers' path, hoping to answer a few deceptively simple questions. What is it like on the trail today? What was it like 200 years ago? What can we learn about the West, and about the nation itself, by examining it through the unique lens of the explorers' journals and letters? "Voyage of Rediscovery" interweaves tales from the trail with analysis of some of the most compelling environmental issues facing the region. Mixing adventure, history, science and sorrow, it paints an evocative portrait of the modern American West and the people who call it home.