Triumph and Tragedy: Meriwether Lewis and the Corps of Discovery

By: Ryan Webb

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 10 mins

Publisher's summary

As a young man growing up in Virginia and Georgia in the late 18th century, Meriwether Lewis displayed the courage that would be so valuable to him later in life. When he was eight or nine years old, a bull charged him. He coolly raised his rifle and shot it dead. A year later, during a nighttime Indian attack on his family, he had the presence of mind to extinguish the campfire so as to hide his party. At eighteen, Lewis was the head of his family’s plantation. Despite such promise, Stephen Ambrose, in "Undaunted Courage," portrays Meriwether Lewis as both a hero and a flawed man. Indeed, while Lewis proved to be an excellent planner and leader of the Corps of Discovery, he also failed to understand the Indians and suffered from a short temper. In addition, he faced periods of severe depression. Still, Ambrose rightfully praises Lewis for leading one of the greatest expeditions in American history. He successfully took thirty-three enlisted men into uncharted and dangerous territory. Ambrose concludes that the intense focus required in leading the journey helped Lewis control his manic-depressive disorder. It was only upon his return that the depression overtook him.