River Walk

Many accounts have been written of the historic expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across the North American continent. But author Rita Cleary offers the story from a very different point of view--through the eyes of John Collins, who is persuaded to join the expedition by his friend, a hunter who will supply meat for the voyagers. Very soon Collins finds himself having to make friends in a highly mixed company, including a group of French Canadians experienced in the...
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Many accounts have been written of the historic expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across the North American continent. But author Rita Cleary offers the story from a very different point of view--through the eyes of John Collins, who is persuaded to join the expedition by his friend, a hunter who will supply meat for the voyagers. Very soon Collins finds himself having to make friends in a highly mixed company, including a group of French Canadians experienced in the ways of river travel. But of all the risks of the journey, both natural and man-made, perhaps none might prove as dangerous for Collins as his love for Laughing Water, a young Mandan widow with a child. Lewis and Clark's pact with the members of the expedition strictly forbids desertion for any reason. For Collins, his sworn oath becomes not only a question of honor, but a matter of life and death.