Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery

Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan are excellent film makers, but their focus on relying on still photography and reenactors in this documentary left much to be desired.

The lack of research is obvious. Images used throughout the film are of the post expedition period, at times decades after the event. Why the lack of period images? Hundreds, if not thousands of artifacts from the era, including drawings and paintings were ignored.

Historical accuracy of the reenactors left much to be desired, they are not clothed in the accoutrements issued by the U.S. Army nor correct civilian attire of the time frame. This is clearly evident by anyone wishing to review documentation produced by The Company of Military Historians, who published information on the 1st U.S. Infantry back in 1951. Lewis and Clark reenactors are notorious for their lack of historical accuracy.

Interviews with some historians (friends of the film makers) left much to be desired and did much to lesson the impact of this film.

Overall, it was an interesting endeavor but one which suffered from too much emotionalism. If you want to learn about the U.S. Army's Corps of Discovery, read the original journals.

Nothwithstanding the celebrity endorsements and hype, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Celebration has become a monumental flop.