I'm almost done with 'Undaunted Courage' - 14 pages to go. Can I expect these guys to be less racist than they were? Should they be held to a higher standard than was normative in their time? The Native Americans were totally impinged upon and violated and then the whites cried foul when the Indians struck back. Sure, the Indians did some bad things to whites, but they were here first, and 'Manifest Destiny' is crap.

After the trip Clark's slave, York, asked to be set free as a reward for his invaluable services on the expedition. 'His wife belonged to someone else and lived in Louisville, Kentucky [presumably with their children].' Clark refused and then beat York when he was 'insolent' as a result.

To add to Clark's faults, he defended Lewis to the end, when the latter's life, and especially finances, was a shambles.

I don't want to idolize these men. So I'm not disappointed. But these faults seem like near deal-killers. There's very little left that's worth admiring in my mind. They were brave. Lewis was pretty-well prepared. They endured a lot.