#Lewis and clark corps of discovery ken burns full#
#Lewis and clark corps of discovery ken burns series#

#Lewis and clark corps of discovery ken burns series#

He has been a consultant on many of Ken Burns's documentary films and was the co-writer and consulting producer of the PBS series The West. About the Author:ĭayton Duncan, writer and producer of Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, is the author of five other books, including Out West: An American Journey along the Lewis and Clark Trail, in which he retraced the route of the expedition. Packed with well-chosen illustrations, Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery is a fine synthesis of what we know about Meriwether Lewis and William Clark today, knowledge that remains shrouded in a certain mystery. The story is one of individual triumph and tragedy, and its cast members-a slave, several women who save the expedition at key moments, and veterans of a bitterly fought revolution-represent the early Republic in microcosm. Having chronicled the Civil War and baseball, among other subjects, filmmaker Ken Burns collaborates with historian Dayton Duncan to craft this moving portrait of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-6. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. And a wealth of paintings, photographs, journal sketches, maps, and film images from the PBS documentary lends this historic, nation-redefining milestone a vibrancy and immediacy to which no American will be immune. Ambrose, William Least Heat-Moon, and Erica Funkhouser, enlarge upon important threads in Duncan's narrative, demonstrating the continued potency of events that took place almost two centuries ago. An elegant preface by Ken Burns, as well as contributions from Stephen E. Plentiful excerpts from the journals kept by the two captains and four enlisted men convey the raw emotions, turbulent spirits, and constant surprises of the explorers, who each day confronted the unknown with fresh eyes. Their story may have passed into national mythology, but never before has their experience been rendered as vividly, in words and pictures, as in this marvelous homage by Dayton Duncan. Along the way they would face incredible hardship, disappointment, and danger record in their journals hundreds of animals and plants previously unknown to science encounter a dizzying diversity of Indian cultures and, most of all, share in one of America's most enduring adventures.

Together they would cross the continent, searching for the fabled Northwest Passage that had been the great dream of explorers since the time of Columbus. The unlikely crew came from every corner of the young nation: soldiers from New Hampshire and Pennsylvania and Kentucky, French Canadian boatmen, several sons of white fathers and Indian mothers, a slave named York, and eventually a Shoshone Indian woman, Sacagawea, who brought along her infant son. The expedition, led by two remarkable and utterly different commanders-the brilliant but troubled Meriwether Lewis and his trustworthy, gregarious friend William Clark-was to be the United States' first exploration into unknown spaces. In the spring of 1804, at the behest of President oThomas Jefferson, a party of explorers called the Corps of oDiscovery crossed the Mississippi River and started up the Missouri, heading west into the newly acquired Louisiana Territory.

#Lewis and clark corps of discovery ken burns full#

Skip Gorman's lively 'Buffalo Hump' is the perfect foil for the Cunningham brothers' poignant 'When Summer Ends,' and Burns' arrangement of 'Bonaparte's Retreat,' with its 'Hoedown' refrain, is a playful breath of fresh air amongst the predominantly bittersweet disposition of the work, making Lewis & Clark a worthy companion to a great adventure.The companion volume to Ken Burns's PBS documentary film, with more than 150 illustrations, most in full color. Solo piano pieces like the plaintive 'Sacagawea's Lullabye' borrow colors from keyboardist George Winston's paint box, and the spooky 'Cheyenne Eyes' is drenched in Daniel Lanois atmospherics. Featuring narration from the likes of Matthew Broderick, Sam Waterston, and Adam Arkin posing as historical figures, the album flows like the Missouri River itself, incorporating traditional folk, Native American, and original tunes with grace and respect. On the soundtrack to the PBS film Lewis & Clark, he's gathered longtime collaborators Jay Ungar and Bobby Horton, as well as Celtic legends John and Phil Cunningham, to flesh out his tale of exploration and discovery.

Whether it is baseball, war, or the saga of jazz, Burns treats his subjects with reverence, often spending as much time in the recording studio as he does behind the camera. Modern-day folklorist Ken Burns has a knack for capturing the nostalgic, sepia-toned ardor of history and turning it into something tangible.