Meriwether Lewis: A Biography by Richard Dillon (review)

64 Western American Literature The proudest association of Ganzhom’s life was his being one of Gen. Frederick Funston’s famous Scouts in the Philippine Insurrection. During this service he received a foot wound from which he suffered the rest of his life, and which prevented his fighting in World War I. Probably his keenest disap­ pointment was his not being chosen as one of the Arizona Rangers, a body organized to combat the lawless influx into Southern Arizona around 1900. Despite his celebrated draw, his Philippine record, and his known devotion to his state, Genzhorn did not have the political backing to become a Ranger. Until his death in 1956 he was successively a professional gambler, an investigator for the FBI, an undercover man for Remington Arms, a Hollywood actor, and finally a witer. His last role was the hardest of all, because, in his own words, he was “almost illiterate.” He bowed his neck and “learned to spell, to put on paper word pictures that would take the lies and falsehoods out of the real West.” He remembered everything —life on the Mexican border, the feel of battle, even the San Francisco earthquake. It was Jack Ganzhorn’s wish to write one true story of the true West, and that he has done with honesty, clarity, and valor. R u t h K e e n a n , Arizona State University Meriwether Lewis-. A Biography, by Richard Dillon. (New York: CowardMcCann , Inc., 1965. 364 pages, $6.95.) There has long been a need for a competent biography of Meriwether Lewis. The only existing full-length account of Lewis, written more than thirty years ago by Charles Morrow, is incomplete and inaccurate. John Bakeless , in his Lewis and Clark, Partners in Discovery (1947), has provided to date the best study of the two explorers, but, like other accounts treating the expedi­ tion as a joint venture, each man has had to share the limelight. In the present volume, however, Richard Dillon centers on the pathfinder from Virginia and produces the much-needed biography of Lewis. As one would expect, the most extensive section of the book is that dealing with the expedition (more than two thirds of the 350 pages). On the other hand, less than thirty pages are devoted to the first twenty-five years of Lewis’s life. Drawing heavily from the journals and letters of the explorers, Dillon gives a notably full account of the peparations for the journey. Not only are the sizes and types of nearly every weapon described, but also the contents of the medicine chest. Equally detailed is the first half of the trip. One sees illustrated distinctly the abilities of Meriwether Lewis: a man of will and perception, an expert “Indian nation diplomat,” and, above all, a skillful leader of men. Less full is the account of the return voyage, although here too one notes abundant substantiation for Thomas Jefferson’s choice of Lewis as leader of the expedition. The candor of the study is particularly evident in the last section, which discusses Lewis’ role as Governor of the Territory of Upper Louisiana. Dillon is critical of Lewis’s attempts to administrate the region from the East and also Reviews 65 his selfish attitude toward members of the expedition preparing accounts pos­ sibly to be published before his. And the author admits that Lewis was far less successful in governing the territory once he arrived than he was in leading the expedition. The interpretation of the events surrounding Lewis’s mysterious death coincides with the views of Bakeless, Vardis Fisher, and Reuben Thwaites — that Meriwether Lewis was probably murdered, although there is no extant evidence to prove the point. Some readers will take issue with parts of Dillon’s study. He avoids com­ menting on the controversial role of Sacajawea and treats briefly the winter in Oregon. Quotations from original sources are frequently lengthy and some­ times unwieldy. This reviewer wishes the author had chosen to footnote his book. Since it is likely to remain the most exhaustive study for some time, specific documentation would have added to the book’s value. On the whole, however, Meriwether Lewis is a solid...