M. R. Montgomery

My reaction to reading this book in 2002.

The lack of any footnotes or biographies makes me a little dubious about this book, makes me wonder how believable anything placed in quote marks is.

The book follows, in chronological order, events in the lives Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, James Wilkinson (the account of him lends detail to a description I once read: “Never won a battle, never lost a court martial.”), Zebulon Pike, Merriwether Lewis, and William Clark in the years 1803-1813.

Montgomery’s claim that, in the long run, Lewis and Clark’s famous expedition could be removed from history with little effect, is defensible though you could argue that its effect in promoting the Rocky Mountain fur trade which, in turn, led to further exploration of the American West and paths across it which facilitated West Coast settlement was important -- particularly in disputes over the region of modern Oregon and Washington. It can also be said that the account here of that expedition is just padding that doesn’t illustrate “how the west was almost lost”.

The main point of having Lewis and Clark here, despite Montgomery’s protest he isn’t being politically correct and that they had some good points, is to do a revisionist account. Compared to Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage, Montgomery’s Lewis comes off as less well trained, less educated, even more moody than Ambrose’s, as being unreasonably hard on the men, unsympathetic and ungrateful for the Indians who helped him -- and also instigator of the silly iron boat episode. Montgomery likes Clark better, finds him more even tempered, better acting towards his men and Indians (though he acknowledges he was a very poor trader).

Montgomery chooses to emphasize the unreasonable Enlightenment ideas of Jefferson’s -- not only the idea of a great lake feeding the Missouri and other western rivers but his patronizing ideas of viewing blacks and Indians as children. In his mind, they were humans, to be sure, but never the equals of whites (Jefferson hoped to use the Louisiana Purchase to settle Indians from eastern America). He also seems to have thought that even grizzly bears could be tamed under the influence of rational upbringing. Jefferson may have held these beliefs, may have been the unemotional person depicted here, but that doesn’t remove the great good he did.

At least Jefferson is relevant to the ostensible story of the book: the plot of James Wilkinson (inveterate schemer who once tried to have George Washington removed as commander of the Revolutionary forces) and Aaron Burr. They wanted, at least according to Montomery and his unsourced quotes, peel off the Transappalachia lands from America and invade Mexico to form an empire under Aaron Burr. (The asides explaining, given the law and political climate of the times, why neither Burr nor Wilkinson was ever convicted of treason or the misdemeanor of plotting to invade Spanish possession, a country America was a peace with, were interesting.) Burr comes across, in his constant public statements, as a horrible plotter, unable to keep a secret. Even newspapers carried accounts of the plot in progress though Jefferson seems to have turned a studied eye of indifference to them, partly because Wilkinson was of his political party.

To be fair, Burr had to make his notions public to try to recruit an army. The army was to assemble on the island of Harman Blennerhassett in the Ohio River. Blennerhasset was married to his first cousin, and the island had an elaborate English-style garden. It was to be the gathering spot for Burr’s army. Wilkinson comes off as duplicitous as you would expect, selling Burr out to his Spanish paymasters (after seemingly wanting to join Burr’s conspiracy) to save his own neck in the court and on the battlefield (he evidently took steps to avoid the Spanish army militarily).

Zebulon Pike comes across as a duplicitous tool of Wilkinson, obviously aware that his scheme to go to Santa Fe (all the while claiming to just be exploring the Red River’s origins) was to serve Wilkinson’s and Burr’s end of seemingly trying to start a war with Spain. He comes across as an indifferent explorer unwilling to listen to those more experienced, hyperactive, given to inexplicable detours (like mountain climbing in winter -- he never laid eyes on the mountain named after him), ungrateful for the help he does get, and uncaring about the men under him. Montgomery not only talks about his southwestern explorations but his trip to Minnesota to find the Mississippi’s source (which he didn’t locate, not going beyond Leech Lake) -- both expeditions roughly contemporaneous to Lewis and Clark’s journey. Pike also, just before the War of 1812, forms a unit to demonstrate the battlefield superiority of pikemen.

The book is an intriguing look at Burr’s conspiracy and seems to be plausible. However, it could have been shorter by eliminating the Lewis and Clark stuff.

And it needed bibliography and footnotes.… (plus d'informations)

I'll start by explaining that I started reading this book solely because I "needed" a book which I could use to represent the state of Maine in my 50 States Challenge.

It was a fun yet surreal read for a number of reasons:

1. It's technically a business book - but written 25 years ago reflecting the business of the time.
2. Because of the above, there was no reference to the internet (since it did not yet exist) and the discussion of typewriters, address-o-matic machines (which I still think sounds fake), and other business practices of the time were a hilarious stroll down memory lane
3. When was the last time you heard anyone say that Montgomery Ward was the best in the industry or listened to the purchasing habits of West Germany?

Since the business benefit of this book is practically nil, I will still recommend it as an insightful "historical business" book which not only lays out the mindset of L.L. Bean in starting his business (yes, L.L. Bean was a real person (who passed away in the 60's) and provides a fun description of life in Maine and its characters, etc.… (plus d'informations)