Part 23

The appearance of this volume in the period of Lewis and Clark celebrations is especially pertinent, as no practical library edition has been available of the “Journal of Patrick Gass.” His narrative was for seven years the only source from which any authentic knowledge of the great enterprise could be obtained. When at last the work based on the diaries of the Captains was given to the world, the earlier book, so far from being set aside, was found to be most important as confirming and supplementing what had been set down by the leaders, and, in fact, has not ceased to be held in high estimation up to the present moment.

“Several picturesque details Dr. Hosmer mentions (in the ‘Introduction’) which had eluded the argus eyes of Coues through a lifetime of waiting and watching. Whatever he learns he sets forth with a vivacity which keeps our attention expectant and appetite growing by what it feeds on.”—_New York Evening Post._

“It restores Gass’s Journal to a common use. The portrait of Gass, which serves as a frontispiece, is a distinct addition.”—_American Historical Review._

“No edition of Lewis and Clark is complete unless accompanied by the Journal of Patrick Gass. The work has been well edited, and the mechanics are of a superior character.”—_Baltimore Sun._