-
The Far Horizons (1955)
- Michigan State University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
The Far Horizons| 189 Dear Diary: Donna Reed is such a babe. They don’t make ’em like her anymore. Man, does she look good in a black wig and braids. Makes me sweat all over just thinking about her. Maybe we shoudda namedthisyawnerHowLewisandClarkWontheColdWar.Oh,butwait,thenitwouldn’t have been about Indians, but the Ruskies! Gag, it’s so-o-o-o hard to dress “Communists.” No feathers and boring . . . Time for my afternoon snooze. Love ya, Donna. I’ll see you in my dreams, Hollywood The Far Horizons t t t Frederick Hoxie The historical errors in The Far Horizons (1955), Hollywood ’s contribution to the 150th anniversary of the LewisandClarkexpedition,comeatyousofast,itishard to keep up with them. The film opens with Meriwether Lewis in satin pants, and ends with the camera on Sekakawea (Donna Reed in pancake makeup) riding away from Thomas Jefferson’s White House in a liveried carriage. Really, the fun never stops. The entire expedition takes place in gorgeous weather, seemingly over one long summer break. The crew travels by boat and is able to turn out in spiffy dress uniforms at the drop of the commander’sNapoleon-stylehat.Clark’smanservant/slaveYork?AWOL.WhereistheAfrican American who went on this journey with Clark? If you’re thinking that movie audiences might not want to see Charlton Heston with a black manservant, we might want to take that question one step further and ask, why not? For their part, all the Indians wear beaded headbands like the ones we made in Cub Scouts back in the 1950s, and anyone who is anyone has great abs and an eagle-feather headdress. And having traveled the Upper Missouri several times myself, I was captivated by the movie’s version of North Dakota’s scenery: shining, snow-capped mountains, alpine meadows, pine forests! Who knew? But wait. If, in the world of film, the errors are as thick as the Indians constantly lying in 190| Frederick Hoxie ambush, if good guys become bad guys and the Oregon coast is suddenly devoid of Native people, maybe this movie isn’t really about Lewis and Clark at all! Maybe the screenwriters and producers had something else in mind. Could this miserable adventure have been intended as a forerunner to “Kabuki Macbeth” or “Hamlet in Drag?” Perhaps there is a core drama here that is more important than the costumes or historical moment. Perhaps that “1803” projected onto the screen in the first scene is a joke. Let’s look for a deeper meaning. After all, the “errors” aren’t really so bad. I mean, relax: a little scenery added here, a little makeup for the leading lady there, a war-whoop, a snappy red, white, and blue uniform in the background: why not? As a Hollywood executive said to me recently, “Don’t get so excited; it’s a story. We are selling drama, not accuracy.” So how serious are those errors? The Corps of Discovery—as the American expedition dispatched by President Jefferson was officiallycalled—leftWoodRiver,Illinois,inthespringof1804andreturnedtonearbySt.Louis in the fall of 1806. Note the dates here. During the summer and fall of 1804, the commanders and their men traveled up the Missouri River as far as the Mandan villages in modern North Dakota. They made camp near the Mandans and Hidatsas from November 1804 until April 1805, when they continued upstream with two new recruits, Toussaint Charbonneau and his pregnant companion, Sekakawea, also known as Sacagawea. In August of that year, the group encountered Sekakawea’s kinsmen, the Shoshones, in modern Idaho. They traveled on to the Bitterroot Valley and then, with winter fast approaching, they took advantage of new horses provided by Salish hunters and directions from a Shoshone guide to find their way along the ancient Lolo Trail to the Clearwater River. There, friendly Nez Perces helped the Americans descend the Columbia River to the sea. After a winter near the Oregon coast, during which time they dealt frequently with Chinook traders, the corps returned eastward, assisted by the same groups who had helped them on their outward journey. Even the most celebratory accounts of Lewis and Clark’s journey credit the commanders’ Indianhostsandguideswithprovidingcrucialassistancetotheexpedition.Indiansprovidedthe food that kept the Americans alive during their winters in North Dakota and Oregon. Indian allies guided them across the Rockies and facilitated their travel down the Columbia. And Indians were the source of canoes, advice, and encouragement. None of this help diminishes the courage or achievement of corps members. In...