In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a voyage up the Missouri River to the Rockies, over the mountains, down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean and back. Lewis and his partner, Captain William Clark, endured incredible hardships and saw incredible sights. In Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose has pieced together previously unknown information to provide a colorful and realistic backdrop for the expedition which is seen through Lewis's eyes. Lewis is supported by a rich variety of colorful characters: Jefferson, whose interest in exploring and acquiring the American West went back thirty years; Clark, a rugged frontiersman whose love for Lewis matched Jefferson's; numerous Indian chiefs; the French and Spanish fur traders of St. Louis; and many leading political, scientific, and military figures of the turn of the century. High adventure, high politics, suspense, drama, and diplomacy combine with high romance and personal tragedy to make this outstanding work of scholarship as engaging as any work of fiction.