This short book list is not an attempt to cover all of the relevant resources to make an educational or for-credit "Floating Classroom" trek on the Missouri, but represents the essential basic books which can form a floating library. I read these books as I went, keeping some the entire trip, and rotating others through the mail to my home as I finished them, or passed through the area. At least every canoeist should carry Lewis and Clark’s Journals to read each day, but I recommend working through all of the following literature on your trek or before it.

1. Undaunted Courage By Stephen Ambrose ISBN 0-684-82697-6 Touchstone Books. This popular work by a reputable scholar can’t be left out. While it is an excellent read on your trek, it is an even better preparation.

2. Thomas Jefferson & the Stony Mountains... Exploring the West from Monticello. By Donald Jackson. Before your trek consider this work which is both good history and good writing. Although Jefferson never traveled further west than the Appalachians, he is the single person most responsible for the US's westward expansion. This book is not a biography of Jefferson, but tells the story of how he came to see the need for a sea-to-shining-sea nation and how he pursued that end. It is the story-behind-the-story of the Lewis and Clark expedition and thus better read before the trek. (and some would argue before reading Undaunted Courage, since in these pages you will capture the larger picture of exploration including the unique competitive role of Canadian Alexander Mackenzie, who preceded Lewis and Clark to the Pacific by a decade but could not convince England to develop his land passage.)

3. Sources of the River, by Jack Nisbet ISBN 1-57061-006-1 Sasquatch Books.

A fascinating book recreating the true story of David Thompson -- fur trader, trader, explorer, map maker. From 1784 to 1812 David Thompson explored western North America recording in careful field journals accounts of the natural history and indigenous cultures of the inland northwest. Thompson was the first person to chart the entire length of the Columbia river. While it does not directly relate to the Missouri it is fascinating trek reading either before the journey, or on it.

4. Montana’s Missouri River By R.C. Gildart (Montana Geographic Series) Available from Montana Magazine Box 5630 Helena MT (Or from Amazon.com). A great over all collection of typical "Geographic style" pictures and writing covering all 700+ miles of Montana’s river. An easy introduction to this section before you leave and a great book to leave at home for others to follow your journey in pictures as you canoe.

5. Traveling the Missouri By Peter Lourie ISBN 0-382-39308-2 Simon And Schuster. Actually a children's book, but telling the story of a journey up river in a power boat (switching to a canoe for some of the shallow river sections) from Omaha to Three Forks. The pictures are accurate and it is an excellent leave-behind book, and you'll especially enjoy the pictures after you've returned.

6. Lewis and Clark: A Journey of the Corps of Discovery The PBS Video set produced by Ken Burns collaborating with author David Duncan is presented on two tapes over four hours. If you have a group going, watch it twice before you leave. Also, consider purchasing the companion "coffee table book" for the picture if nothing else. (If you are taking the trek for study purposes consider Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Thomas Jefferson also.)

7. The Moulton Journals Published by The University of Nebraska Press, the eleven volume set of the Moulton journals is the most comprehensive edition of the journals, but you will have to turn loose of more than $600 to get them, and if you are not intending to really take the Lewis and Clark expedition seriously for the rest of your life, the price may be excessive.

1. The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Frank Bergon, ed. Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-025217-7

A must-read for any Missouri River trek. Actual journals with original spelling with helpful (but not too many) annotations by the editor. Great to read each night before covering the same route the following day. (Also available in other editions with other editors)

2. Montana’s Wild and Scenic Upper Missouri River By Glenn Monahan No ISBN. A must purchase for your trek through the White Cliffs. Available from Northern Rocky Mountain Books 315 West Fourth Street, Anaconda MT 59711 Here is a mile by mile guide to the Wild and Scenic river jammed with quotes from the primary sources including journals and steamboat logs. This book supplies detailed history of the Lewis and Clark era, the trader era, steamboat era, emigrant settlement, down to modern times and includes chapters on geology, and wildlife. It is such a thorough book that you’ll want to slow down through the W&S river section just to read it. You can also buy it at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls. Get it one way or another then mail it home at Ft. Peck to read again when you finish the trek.

3. The Journals of Patrick Gass, Carol Lynn MacGregor ed. Mountain Press, Missoula, ISBN 0-87842-351-6

Gass was a sergeant on the Lewis and Clark expedition and one of the few members of the expedition to maintain a continuous journal. His writing is simple and direct and he constantly reveals his love for life and an optimism about the trek. It is a great companion piece to the Lewis and Clark (more official) record and gives the reader another point of view or a "second witness" on the day’s activities.

Indians: Lewis and Clark Among the Indians James Ronda The authoritative book on the interchange of the Corps of Discovery and Native Americans.

Natural History: Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Naturalists Paul Russell Cutright. Narrow focus on the 177 new plants and 122 new animal species discovered by Lewis and Clark on their expedition.

North Dakota: Lewis and Clark in North Dakota. A full third of the expedition’s over all time was spent in this single state. This is a comprehensive look at the time.

Medicine: Only One Man Died: The medical Aspects of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Eldon G. Chunard, M.D.

Sacagawea: The Making of Sacagawea Donna Kessler. Sorting through the myths and facts of the Sacagawea legend. Or Sacagawea by Judith St. George a happily told tale including the later years stories and myths.

Mountain Men & Fur Traders:

Courageous Colter and Company By L.R. Colter-Frick ISBN 0-9655788-1-0 A delightfully presented "the rest of the story" of this amazing member of the Lewis and Clark band who turned around and went west after the big trek, eventually discovering what would become Yellowstone Park

French Fur Traders and Voyageurs By LeRoy R. Hafen Full coverage of the vast French trading dynasty in the nineteenth century.

Most of the above books are available at amazon.com and all of them can be purchased through the mail order catalog of the North Dakota Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Foundation at P.O. Box 607 Washburn ND 58577 (If you canoe the entire river you will stop here to see their dugout canoe, too)