Passing through the Garden: Lewis and Clark and the Image of the American Northwest

xxvi, 412 pp. The broad scope of exploration in the American Northwest from 1673 to 1810 is covered in Allen's intriguing examination of the evolving geographical images that grew out of exploration from Marquette's time on--especially the images of the passage and the garden. Because these images played a major role in the expedition of Lewis and Clark--who finally altered them and gave Americans more realistic images of the Northwest--Allen focuses on their journey, following them over the mountains to the bleak winter coast as they compiled data, distinguished between geographical fact and lore, and attempted to reconcile the discrepancies. Among the forty-five maps reproduced is the previously unpublished 1803 King map of the western part of North America.