The Character of Meriwether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness by Clay S. Jenkinson

by Clay S. Jenkinson

Oddities, Delights, and even Dark Corners of one of America's most famous frontiersman are explored in this newly released book. The Character of Meriwether Completely Metamorphosed in the American West, the first book in a series is Clay Jenkinson's scholarly view on an American hero's complex character. He examines the nature of Meriwether Lewis starting with his boyhood and continues through the dark despair of alcoholism, depression and finally his suicide. Not just a dry historical account of Meriwether Lewis' life but an insight into a complex man with many quirks. The hilarity of Lewis' obsession with clothes and food together with the sadness of his depression are sure to stir your emotions. Clay gives readers new lenses into the character of Meriwether Lewis.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Clay Jenkinson is one of the most sought-after humanities scholars in the United States

A cultural commentator who has devoted most of his professional career to public humanities programs, Clay Jenkinson has been honored by two presidents for his work. On November 6, 1989, he received from President George Bush one of the first five Charles Frankel Prizes, the National Endowment for the Humanities highest award (now called the National Humanities Medal), at the nomination of the NEH Chair, Lynne Cheney. On April 11, 1994, he was the first public humanities scholar to present a program at a White House-sponsored event when he presented Thomas Jefferson for a gathering hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton. When award-winning humanities documentary producer Ken Burns turned his attention to Thomas Jefferson, he asked Clay Jenkinson to be the major humanities commentator. Since his first work with the North Dakota Humanities Council in the late 1970s, including a pioneering first-person interpretation of Meriwether Lewis, Clay Jenkinson has made thousands of presentations throughout the United States and its territories, including Guam and the Northern Marianas.

In 2008, Clay became the director of The Dakota Institute through The Lewis & Clark, Fort Mandan Foundation, to further expand his humanities programs with documentary films, symposiums and literary projects. He is also the Chief Consultant for the Theodore Roosevelt Center through Dickinson State University and conducts an annual lecture series for Bismarck State College.

Clay is also widely sought after as a commencement speaker (he has several honorary doctorates); as a facilitator of teacher institutes on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Classical Culture, the Millennium, and other topics; as a lecturer on topics ranging from the "Unresolved Issues of the Millennium," to the "Character of Meriwether Lewis"; as a consultant to a range of humanities programs, chiefly first person historical interpretation (Chautauqua). Best known for his award-winning historical impersonations of Thomas Jefferson, Clay Jenkinson also impersonates other characters, including Meriwether Lewis, John Wesley Powell, Robert Oppenheimer, Theodore Roosevelt and John Steinbeck.

Clay Jenkinson can:

Serve as a cultural commentator on a range of topics
Conduct humanities institutes and cultural tours
Present historical programs in character with audiance interaction.
Provide live video programs through i-Chat to your classroom or business.
The rates for Clay Jenkinson's professional humanities presentations will vary. if you are interested in more information or in booking or contacting Clay Jenkinson for any professionally related reason, please call Nancy Franke a Dakota Sky Education, Inc at toll free at 1 888 828 2853 or e-mail at nfranke@comcast.net

Public Speaking
If you are interested in knowing more about Clay's topics and characters, please visit http://dakotaskyed.wordpress.com. The views on the mentioned website are Clay Jenkinson's and do not reflect the views of The Thomas Jefferson Hour® nor any of its sponsors.

Social Commentary
Clay Jenkinson is a popular social commentator. While on The Thomas Jefferson Hour®, Clay strictly adheres to the rules of being a humanities scholar (neutrality). If you are interested in Clay's personal views, please consider reading Clay's Weekly Columns.

The views on the mentioned website are Clay Jenkinson's and do not reflect the views of The Thomas Jefferson Hour nor any of its sponsors.
http://www.jeffersonhour.com/about%20...

Reviews

[Agnes]

You always learn about historical figures but it's not until you spend 300+ pages learning about them from someone who has devoted lots of time trying to understand them, that those historical figures become real people. I feel like I know M. Lewis on a different level, and because of that, his journey has become so much more significant. Time well spent.

[Rey Dekker · Rating 5 out of 5]

...I think I just took a history lesson...sort of reminded me of reading "Moby Dick" when the author lapsed into "in their own words" passages...man, they talked and wrote differently back then...but well worth the experience (which is why I read "difficult" books regularly just to keep the old CPU unclogged)...we hear about "Lewis & Clark" all the time, think we "studied" them and their journey (somewhere in our education) but if we did, I didn't remember...now I am an expert:-)
...complicated guy, this Meriwether, and the relationships with Jefferson and Clark incredibly informative and interesting...I think the guy was exceptional in many ways and flawed in nearly as many other...sort of typical for creative and/or visionary souls...if you feel up to a wrestling match of a read this is a good book, particularly if you are interested in history and specifically the history of land nearby in ND...the author is beyond reproach and the theory he promulgates is one I would agree with...phew...almost makes me want to read the second book in the Fifty Shades Trilogy...no, not even close...

...book on Meriwether Lewis is most excellent...
The Character of Meriwether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness
Clay Straus Jenkinson 2011 The Dakota Institute

Clay Jenkinson takes a markedly different approach in his biography of Meriwether Lewis. He interprets historical and allegorical events surrounding the expedition and but also delves deeply into the psyche of Lewis. He references documented fact while exploring the mind and motivations of the man.

Few people understand the intimate relationship between Lewis and Jefferson. Living in the White House for two years as Jefferson's personal secretary no doubt played a role in the appointment of Lewis to head the exploration. Lewis had to be trained in the simplest form of positioning via compass and sextant before departure. His foremost accomplishment was the liaison with Clark. A military man, well accustomed to martialing men and materiale, it was Clark who made the trip work.
According to Jenkinson, Lewis was bi-polar, subject to short periods of intense productivity followed by longer spans of inactivity. Lewis went weeks without making journal entries on the trip. He was a brilliant and creative person though probably unsuited to this task. A self-aggrandizing man, he often ran ahead of the party to be the "first" to observe virgin territory, often out of bounds endangering himself and the mission. His inability to deliver to Jefferson the accounting of the expedition was his biggest failure.

Upon his return, he spiraled into consumption. A heavy drinker and user of drugs, he played the bon vivant from St. Louis to Washington. Clark made a family and proceeded with life. Lewis went askew. Appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory, he took two years to man his post.
Ultimately, Lewis' demons did him in. Jenkinson believes he committed suicide. Others maintain he was murdered. The author offers the reader conflicting and supporting documentation and then states his case. His objectivity is refreshing. The book unearths back-story and heretofore invisible forces which define Lewis and his motivations.

[Pomegranates · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Character of Meriwether Lewis is a very in depth look at Lewis, not organized as a biography but rather as a character study. The format somewhat resembles a collection of essays, yet there is an evident continuity. The chapters build on each other; Jenkinson often references and expands on points brought up in earlier ones. However, there is also a certain degree of redundancy in the work (how many times does he reintroduce the Robinson Crusoe comparison, for instance?). Gives you the impression it might have benefited from a bit more editing. The focus of the chapters are sometimes interrupted with what could be considered rambling-- although Jenkinson always returns to the point at hand. Furthermore, the tangents he goes off on usually serve a later purpose, or at the very least tend to be entertaining. The biggest problem with this approach is that it occasionally disturbs the flow of the narrative-- it's quite easy to lose track. There's an aspect of non-linearity throughout the book, which is not a problem if you're familiar with the major players and the rough layout of the expedition, although if you haven't any background I'd read up a bit beforehand.

Lovely ideas on characterization of the both the subject and his "partner in discovery" William Clark. The way Jenkinson compellingly writes their dynamic really helps you sort out their individual personalities (obviously with an emphasis on Lewis’). The effects of each other's friendship, Lewis' inevitable hardships in Clark's absence, the nuclear power plant metaphor demonstrating their ideal proximity, and the existence (and, by extension, the location of) a "breaking up" point provides quite impressive commentary. Jenkinson challenges the default "best American friendship" interpretation-- and yet makes it so much more realistic and fascinating in its complexity. In terms of Lewis specifically, I most enjoyed the focus on his obsession with “getting there first” and his becoming "metamorphosed" into the American west. I think the speculation early on regarding Lewis’ sexuality would have been interesting to expand on (Jenkinson suggests asexuality). It's also important to note that Jenkinson luckily steers away from modernizing or glorifying Lewis, which is absolutely necessary in such a context.

I quite enjoyed some of the more creative approaches to analysis. For instance, the close examination of journal entries written on significant dates (the Captains' birthdays, the Fourth of July, and New Years). Additionally, Jenkinson spends a lot of time talking about Lewis' mentor, Jefferson. It's useful to compare Jefferson with his protegé, but sometimes I think he is given too much of the spotlight. Jenkinson also occasionally alludes to poets, which I suppose makes sense for a humanities scholar. However, as someone without much background in poetry, I found it more confusing than anything else.

Jenkinson's tendency to present issues in a fairly even-handed manner is demonstrated particularly well in the case of Lewis' death. I especially enjoyed what he wrote about in regards to this debate (I had no idea people got that intense over it). His summary of Lewis' last night is probably as neutral as someone who's deeply involved with the murderist-suicidist question could possibly muster. It's a remarkably detailed sketch, and in the following argument for a suicidal interpretation, he at least goes over the merits of the murderists' arguments (a portion of which is unfortunately located in the endnotes). It's obvious where Jenkinson stands, though his overview of the debate is nonetheless intriguing. Very informative. The conclusions he comes to are similarly informative; the reasoning behind them is certainly elucidated.

Jenkinson's arguments merit respect. As the reviews on the back of the book warned me, I certainly didn't agree with all of his conclusions but they're written in such a way as to encourage and appreciate the debate. Jenkinson's knack for understanding how "lenses" can form and transform the strands of interpretation makes for a particularly nuanced and rightfully complex reading. I only wish the study were longer-- there's plenty of stuff he mentions in passing but doesn't go into depth about. It's one of those books I didn't want to end.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I knew a little more about the actual journals of the Corp but I don't think it was necessary to enjoy this book by Clay Jenkinson. He quickly goes through the background of the journey before getting into his theory of Lewis' suicide. If you have never read anything about the expedition I would at least see the documentary by Ken Burns.

Although not as popular as some other historical conspiracies, Lewis' death is just as well debated from all sides by historians. Jenkinson divides everyone into two groups: murderists and suicidists. Even within these two groups there is a lot of disagreement when the facts leave off to conjecture.

Jenkinson lays out the facts succinctly in my opinion and this gives him room to argue against the theories already out there. I like his comparisons with other explorers including Buzz Aldrin because we can see the likenesses in the mind of those who have done something so extraordinary and then try to return to something so ordinary. The factors which led to a broken state of mind are all covered thoroughly in the book from the effects of Malaria to his seemingly social anxiety.

One area that I didn't think was covered is that Lewis made some serious mistakes that a proud person such as he was would not let go of very easily. Most notably was his inaccurate measurements for longitude. It brought to mind another enlightenment era explorer/scientist in Pierre Mechain who made the same sort of distorted calculation during his quest to determine the length of the meter. Like Lewis, Mechain procrastinated when he found his error. Mechain did not kill himself though. He was taken by yellow fever.

There is a lot gathered in this book and I can see that it is something the author has thought about for a long time.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great exploration of the man Meriwether Lewis. It's not a biography; it doesn't go through every event in his life. Instead it takes what the author considers to be especially revealing episodes in his life and goes through them in detail, trying to flesh out some of his character. In this manner it's sort of similar to Joseph Ellis' American Sphinx. The author spends a lot of time discussing other research and approaches to Lewis．I appreciated that because it showed the views of the academic community and not just the author. It allows the author to present his case without saying it is absolute. The author's writing style is also great, really funny at times. If you're interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition and want to find out more about one of the men behind it, it's a great book.

[Glenn Geiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know this romantic tale of Jeffersons best known push toward manifest destiny, now enter the heads of its co-leaders in the way only a humanities scholar can provide. Join these two men, brothers, to a destination for which maps are featureless and no trail yet exists. Allow Jenkinson to put you beside them, revealing with fresh insights logically borne, the gifts, strengths and short-comings of Americas,arguably, greatest partnership.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, once I picked this baby up, that was that. 400 pages of non-fiction. Wooo. Ok, pace yourself. But, too interesting, too thorough, too informed to get annoyed and put away. Read a bunch each day until done. I’ve never ever read or heard of a more comprehensive consideration of potential factors at play. So well expressed. So generous to scholars, so informed, and so in command of intelligent language.

I’m from the west coast, Lewis and Clark are DNA. Oh and the discussion of explorers’ transformations; the heaviness of being so completely melted down to essence and then maybe put back together. The Enlightenment, that intellectual migration to categorical classifications.

Thank you Clay.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clay Jenkinson writes a scholarly and lengthy analysis into the character of one of the most perplexing explorers ever. At times it can come across pedantic and somewhat cumbersome, but the character dissection is thorough and precise. I especially enjoyed the last two chapters that detailed why and how Lewis fell apart and met his ultimate demise, still shrouded in some controversy (although I agree with Jenkinson and others that he indeed did commit suicide). Overall, this enlightening book merits a considerable place in the collection of studies of Lewis & Clark.

[Pamela Okano · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book about the Lewis & Clark Expedition per se. It is a series of essays about the inner workings or nonworkings of Meriwether Lewis, who most likely committed suicide in his 30's. However, because the expedition is such a great part of his life, it would behoove the reader to read about the expedition in another work first, because the author assumes that the reader has done so. I love Clay Jenkinson's living history series, but this book required a lot more editing. Very repetitive, it could have been shortened considerably.

[Michelle LaMay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, good writing...strong evidence of our misperception of a "hero". He was always depressed and angry because he procrastinated, really couldn't write because he had never read; he was never live up to his contrived, narcissistic and arrogant facade.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book because the author Clay Jenkinson was coming in to Norfolk to do a monologue for this character. I wanted to have a little historical insight before going to the program. The book was wonderfully done, and I really love the voice that he uses when telling stories.

[Caren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A more serious look at Mr. lewis.