My reaction to reading this book in 2002.

The lack of any footnotes or biographies makes me a little dubious about this book, makes me wonder how believable anything placed in quote marks is.

The book follows, in chronological order, events in the lives Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, James Wilkinson (the account of him lends detail to a description I once read: “Never won a battle, never lost a court martial.”), Zebulon Pike, Merriwether Lewis, and William Clark in the years 1803-1813.

Montgomery’s claim that, in the long run, Lewis and Clark’s famous expedition could be removed from history with little effect, is defensible though you could argue that its effect in promoting the Rocky Mountain fur trade which, in turn, led to further exploration of the American West and paths across it which facilitated West Coast settlement was important -- particularly in disputes over the region of modern Oregon and Washington. It can also be said that the account here of that expedition is just padding that doesn’t illustrate “how the west was almost lost”.

The main point of having Lewis and Clark here, despite Montgomery’s protest he isn’t being politically correct and that they had some good points, is to do a revisionist account. Compared to Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage, Montgomery’s Lewis comes off as less well trained, less educated, even more moody than Ambrose’s, as being unreasonably hard on the men, unsympathetic and ungrateful for the Indians who helped him -- and also instigator of the silly iron boat episode. Montgomery likes Clark better, finds him more even tempered, better acting towards his men and Indians (though he acknowledges he was a very poor trader).

Montgomery chooses to emphasize the unreasonable Enlightenment ideas of Jefferson’s -- not only the idea of a great lake feeding the Missouri and other western rivers but his patronizing ideas of viewing blacks and Indians as children. In his mind, they were humans, to be sure, but never the equals of whites (Jefferson hoped to use the Louisiana Purchase to settle Indians from eastern America). He also seems to have thought that even grizzly bears could be tamed under the influence of rational upbringing. Jefferson may have held these beliefs, may have been the unemotional person depicted here, but that doesn’t remove the great good he did.

At least Jefferson is relevant to the ostensible story of the book: the plot of James Wilkinson (inveterate schemer who once tried to have George Washington removed as commander of the Revolutionary forces) and Aaron Burr. They wanted, at least according to Montomery and his unsourced quotes, peel off the Transappalachia lands from America and invade Mexico to form an empire under Aaron Burr. (The asides explaining, given the law and political climate of the times, why neither Burr nor Wilkinson was ever convicted of treason or the misdemeanor of plotting to invade Spanish possession, a country America was a peace with, were interesting.) Burr comes across, in his constant public statements, as a horrible plotter, unable to keep a secret. Even newspapers carried accounts of the plot in progress though Jefferson seems to have turned a studied eye of indifference to them, partly because Wilkinson was of his political party.

To be fair, Burr had to make his notions public to try to recruit an army. The army was to assemble on the island of Harman Blennerhassett in the Ohio River. Blennerhasset was married to his first cousin, and the island had an elaborate English-style garden. It was to be the gathering spot for Burr’s army. Wilkinson comes off as duplicitous as you would expect, selling Burr out to his Spanish paymasters (after seemingly wanting to join Burr’s conspiracy) to save his own neck in the court and on the battlefield (he evidently took steps to avoid the Spanish army militarily).

Zebulon Pike comes across as a duplicitous tool of Wilkinson, obviously aware that his scheme to go to Santa Fe (all the while claiming to just be exploring the Red River’s origins) was to serve Wilkinson’s and Burr’s end of seemingly trying to start a war with Spain. He comes across as an indifferent explorer unwilling to listen to those more experienced, hyperactive, given to inexplicable detours (like mountain climbing in winter -- he never laid eyes on the mountain named after him), ungrateful for the help he does get, and uncaring about the men under him. Montgomery not only talks about his southwestern explorations but his trip to Minnesota to find the Mississippi’s source (which he didn’t locate, not going beyond Leech Lake) -- both expeditions roughly contemporaneous to Lewis and Clark’s journey. Pike also, just before the War of 1812, forms a unit to demonstrate the battlefield superiority of pikemen.

The book is an intriguing look at Burr’s conspiracy and seems to be plausible. However, it could have been shorter by eliminating the Lewis and Clark stuff.

And it needed bibliography and footnotes. ( )

Ah, the things we never learned in fifth-period History class!

Okay, boys and girls, it’s time for today’s quiz, so get out your No. 2 pencils and put on your thinking caps.

True or False
1. Hannibal dined on liver and chianti while crossing the Alps with elephants.
2. Marie Antoinette once said “Let them eat moon pies.�€?
3. Using a pseudonym, Abraham Lincoln wrote a novel entitled The Secret Afternoon Passions of Miss Emily Warburton.
4. U.S. rebels once plotted to thwart President Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase, take the territory west of the Mississippi by military force and set up a rogue nation in the American frontier.

If you answered True to number 4, you’re correct—everything else is a result of my fevered imagination. But yes, according to the stirring narrative laid out in M.R. Montgomery’s book of historical journalism, Jefferson and the Gun-Men, the United States of America was once in danger of ending at St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1804, while Jefferson was dispatching Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition to find a navigable route to the Pacific, there was a nefarious plot underway to take control of the territory they were exploring.

The rogues?
· Aaron Burr, the man most famous for his duel with Alexander Hamilton. He felt he should have won the presidential election of 1800 and now as Jefferson’s Vice President, he’s chafing under the collar. “In an age of ideology and political passion,â€? Montgomery writes, “Burr sees politics as a means to his political ends.â€? The charming, womanizing veep starts to fantasize about another role for himself: “Emperor of the West, an American Napoleon.â€? With his conspirators, he will raise a volunteer army in the West and, with Britain as their ally, will establish a kingdom of the Rockies (to include Mexico).
· James Wilkinson, the commander of the U.S. Army who also happened to be on the payroll of the Spanish government as a spy (code name, “Agent 13â€?). The 46-year-old Wilkinson is “an overweight, florid, impressive-looking manâ€? intent on using his connections to rouse Spanish troops to overtake the territory. Wilkinson is in on the scheme because he smells money.
· Zebulon Pike, a 24-year-old lieutenant who idolizes General Wilkinson. Pike (the man for whom Colorado’s Pike’s Peak was named) will do anything to please his hero—including a foolhardy chase across the treacherous West in pursuit of Lewis and Clark.

The plot eventually failed. (Gee, did I spoil it for you?)

I rarely read history books (to my shame, Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage remains on my bookshelf, its pages still untouched), but I just couldn’t resist the allure of Montgomery’s work. Having grown up in Wyoming, I’m naturally curious about the early days of the West, but then throw such a dramatic stew on top of it and I’m there, baby!

The story is ripe for Hollywood—action, intrigue, sex—so why haven’t we heard more about how we nearly lost our largest land purchase? As Montgomery admits, it’s one of those footnotes which lives quietly at the bottom of history’s page until someone stumbles upon the evidence and, fascinated, writes an entertaining account of the adventure (which Montgomery has certainly done). The existing evidence is occasionally scant—a rumor here, an allusion in a letter there—but there is enough to support the tale. As Montgomery writes, “History is mostly gaps with a few stitches of fact holding it together.â€?

Indeed, the author sews a very engaging tapestry of colorful incidents which, at times, reads like a page-turning novel. We see Lewis and Clark making their perilous but exciting journey through Indian territory, navigating raging rivers and learning how to properly ration the expedition’s whiskey. We listen in as Burr and Wilkinson ride up and down the Eastern seaboard, trying to whip up support for their military coup. We witness the naive Pike making some really, really bad decisions as he navigates the trail left by Lewis and Clark. Through it all, we sit in wonder as our young nation goes through some incredible growing pains.

More than anything, Jefferson and the Gun-Men puts a face on America in the early 1800s. We get a very good sense of what the characters—especially Lewis and Clark—were like:

They are an odd couple. Lewis is a bit aloof, and suffers fools badly. Clark is moderately gregarious with anyone—Indians, French-Canadians, mixed bloods, women, children—and shows occasional signs of a sense of humor, a trait rarely perceptible in Meriwether Lewis. There is another difference. Clark is matter-of-fact, persistent, and almost serene. Meriwether Lewis has moods.

That emotional turbulence will make quite a bit of difference as the explorers push westward. Faulty decisions are made but, incredibly, good luck usually ends up on their side. Meanwhile, Pike is making equally disastrous choices as, under Wilkinson’s orders, he tries to track them down and stop them from mapping out the land Burr wants to rule.

In Montgomery’s hands, the tale is always exciting and quite often ribald—who knew that Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery men were such sexaholics? Or that one of the tensest moments of U.S.-Indian relations would come on the banks of the Missouri River with the Corps men mooning the Teton Sioux who, in turn, give the Americans the finger.

Ah, the things we never learned in History class! ( )

Written for effect ( )