Credits & Sources

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Stephen E. Ambrose. Undaunted Courage. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1996.

Stephen E. Abrose. Interview by Sen. Dorgan's staff 1997

Mr. Ambrose's book and the generous sharing of his time for an Interview with Sen. Dorgan's staff both have proved to be invaluable resources in the creation of this web site.

George Catlin. The Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians. London, 1841.

In an effort to discover and preserve the true character and customs of the North American Indians before their natural way of life disappeared, George Catlin spent the years 1832 through 1839 visiting 48 different tribes and recording his observations with brush and pen. He concluded that "the North American Indian in his native state is an honest, hospitable, faithful, brave, warlike, cruel, revengeful, relentless,--yet honourable, contemplative and religious being." Catlin spent three weeks with the Mandans in the summer of 1832, painting portraits of their chiefs, picturing village life, religious ceremonies, games and dances. Fascinated by the rituals and customs of this friendly and hospitable tribe, Catlin devoted nearly a quarter of his most important Indian work to the Mandans.

These are the portraits that are found on the entry page and in the header graphic on each of this exhibition's pages. These fanciful illustrations of Lewis and Clark were included in this spurious contemporary account compiled from Jefferson's 1806 message regarding the expedition, but supplemented by 18th Century reports of private travellers.

Patrick Gass, one of the three sergeants with the Lewis and Clark expedition, was the first member of the corps of discovery to publish his journal. Between its first printing in Pittsburgh in 1807, and the publishing of the journals of Lewis and Clark in 1814, Gass's account was the only one available to curious American and European readers. Editions of Gass's journal were published in London in 1808, in France in 1810 and in Germany in 1814. Mathew Carey published three editions in Philadelphia in 1810, 1811, and 1812 accompanied by six woodcuts, the first graphic illustrations of incidents described in Gass's journal. These woodcuts were often reprinted in later editions of both the Gass journal and the journals of Lewis and Clark.

The Swiss artist Karl Bodmer accompanied Prince Maximilian's party on its travels up the Missouri River in 1832-34, retracing, in part, the route of Lewis and Clark. The Prince's scientific account of his trip was published in Coblenz, Paris, and London, between 1839 and 1843, accompanied by 81 copperplate engravings, based on Bodmer's watercolor paintings, that capture the first accurate depictions of North American Indian life and western landscapes.