The expedition to transverse the North American continent led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark proved both an epic undertaking and the making of an epic. The hardships were incredible. The duration of the trek, not merely overland but also over the Rocky Mountains, proved to be much longer than expected. Some hope for the future success of the expedition arrived with the trapper, Toussant Charbonneau, and his two wives. The French-Canadian claimed he knew the way to the Pacific Ocean, but it is his younger wife, Sacagawea, who was the most help.

Charbonneau's Gold

Literature & Fiction

Cleary, Rita

Genre Fiction

Sagebrush Large Print

Many accounts have been recorded of the historic expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across the North American continent. River Walk sees the expedition through the eyes of John Collins, who is persuaded to join them by his friend, Georges Drouillard, a hunter who will supply meat for the voyagers. Collins finds himself making friends among a highly mixed company and a love affair with a young French woman ends disastrously. But then he meets and falls in love with Laughing Water, a young Mandan widow with a child, and Lewis and Clark's agreement with members of the trail prohibited desertions for any reason.

River Walk

RIVER WALK is history written large. Doris Meredith's review says it best. 
Cleary uses real historical figures as characters in her novel of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The viewpoint character is John Collins, whom Cleary describes as "eager and feisty, strong and healthy. He could shoot straight, run fast, drink with the best of them. He could not write his name." 
The plot of RIVER WALK is history but Cleary recreates historical figures as they might actually have been. To the raw facts of the Journals of Lewis and Clark, she adds emotion: "fears, loves, joys, bonds of friendship, antagonisms, and personal struggles for fulfillment." How well does she succeed? Very well indeed. 
John Collins is as likable as a puppy, sometimes irritating, sometimes a little foolish. When he thinks of leaving, "He wrenched his mind from the nostalgia of loss, the home that was, his parents' persistent struggle to feed their children, and dreamed of empty prairies and the possibilities of new and varied relationships. The seeking and the finding condensed the inspiration that consumed the young man's soul." 
Not only does Cleary turn historical facts into historical drama, but she shows us the coming of age of a young man in John Collins. He does not mature easily. When he is sentenced to the whipping post for getting drunk on watch, he is bitter. We watch the resentment whenever the men don't understand or disagree with the Captains' orders. We share Collins' joy as he marries Laughing Water, a young Mandan widow, only to leave her to follow Lewis and Clark toward the shining mountains. 
A fine historical novel, and the first of a series about the Lewis and Clark expedition.

River Walk: A Frontier Story (Five Star First Edition Western Series)

United States

Five Star

When he joins the historic expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across North America, John Collins must overcome many obstacles and dangers, both natural and manmade, when he falls in love with Laughing Water, a young Mandan widow with a child. Original.

Leisure Books

Combining historical details with brilliant storytelling, this exciting novel recreates the incredible journey of Lewis and Clark as they team up with a French-Canadian trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau who offers to escort them to the Pacific, but who is not what he seems. Reprint.

Published by Sunstone Press, PO Box 2321, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2321. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Sorrel

Sunstone Pr

When his father's loyalty to the crown is questioned and he is imprisoned by the British, Samuel Townsend throws all his efforts into the colonies' struggle for independence

Spies and Tories: A Novel

In war-torn New York in 1776, cannon and broadsides echo over Brooklyn as refugees clog the roads to Queens. Fear is rampant as British soldiers round up rebel sympathizers. But in spite of the danger, a young Quaker, Robert Townsend, enters the struggle for American independence. His father, wealthy merchant and ship owner, Samuel Townsend, has already been thrown into prison. Outraged by the careless administration of General William Howe, the callous treatment of the population, and horrified by inhuman conditions in British prisons, Robert becomes a spy. He poses as a loyal Tory merchant and journalist while he and his comrades subvert, smuggle and burn. The invasion penetrates Robert's childhood home in Oyster Bay where British Captain John Graves Simcoe is quartered. Lonely and embarrassed by the excesses of his own army, Simcoe befriends Robert's sister, Sally, and they fall in love.Meanwhile, secrecy and fear wear on the honest young Quaker. He finds comfo! rt and love in the arms of a fellow spy, a woman more daring and committed than himself. But she is married and his religious family condemns the union. Corruption, loss, capture and death stalk the young couple in this gripping novel of the Revolutionary War.

Spies and Tories

Contemporary

River Walk (Western Series)

Center Point Pub

The extraordinary journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark comes to vivid life with a skillful blend of historical detail and story telling as only the acclaimed Rita Cleary can deliver. As the members of the Lewis and Clark party continue to explore beyond the confines of the Louisiana Purchase, they face all the perils of a hostile, uncharted territory—harsh mountains, a treacherous river, and unknown Indian tribes. When a French-Canadian trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau offers to show them the way to the Pacific, the group immediately welcomes him and his wife Sacagawea into the corps. But it's Charbonneau himself who might be their greatest threat...

Center Point

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Books by Cleary, Rita

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cleary, Rita. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Charbonneau's Gold

River Walk

River Walk: A Frontier Story (Five Star First Edition Western Series)

River Walk

Charbonneau's Gold

Sorrel

Spies and Tories: A Novel

Spies and Tories

River Walk (Western Series)

Charbonneau's Gold