|
|
Article: Publishing the U.S. exploring expedition: the fruits of the glorious enterprise.(Report)
- Article from:
- Printing History
- Article date:
- January 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 The American Printing History Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
IN 1844, swept into office by a campaign promising westward expansion, President-elect James K. Polk was poised to succeed John Tyler in the White House. A confident young United States of America was challenging European nations in international disputes over boundaries from the Pacific Northwest to Texas. Lieutenant John C. Fremont of the Army Topographical Corps had just completed the first U.S. government-sponsored scientific expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and the first wagon train of pioneers had crossed that distant range. As William H. Goetzmann has remarked,
The nineteenth century, for Americans as well as Europeans, was an
age of exploration. ...