JH: In the spring of 2001, together with my wife, I retraced the Corps of Discovery's route from St. Louis to the Pacific. Traveling the entire route helped me to get a sense of the lay of the land, the climate changes, the variety of Native American cultures they passed through.
The lower Missouri today is almost totally changed because of the dams. But once you get out West there are still areas that are almost untouched, virtually the same as when Lewis and Clark passed through. I hiked up the Lemhi Pass, imagining what Lewis must have felt when he first gazed at the mountain ranges beyond and realized that there was no Northwest Passage. I dipped a paddle in the waters of the Missouri near Fort Benton, Montana, imagining my canoe joining the expedition as it ventured upstream. I hiked a section of the Lolo Trail, through Idaho's breathtaking Bitterroot Mountains, and imagined what the trail must have been like covered with ice and snow, with next to nothing to eat, wondering whether we would make it out alive.
At the Pacific Ocean, on Oregon's rugged coastline, we experienced a cold, blustery day. Sand stung our faces as we trudged along the shore, and rain fell in sheets. After visiting the National Park Service's replica of Fort Clatsop, I could imagine the men waiting through the winter of 1805-1806, soggy, bored, and miserable.
On the way home we encountered herds of elk and buffalo in Montana. It was sobering to realize that these were a mere fraction of the vast numbers of wildlife Lewis and Clark witnessed.
At a rescue facility for grizzly bears near Yellowstone National Park, I came face to face with Ursus Horribilis. There's nothing quite as humbling as watching these great bears rise up on two legs and roar from less than 20 feet away. How, I wondered, did the expedition make it through the bear country of Montana without at least one member being mauled or eaten?
As we traveled along the Yellowstone River, retracing Clark's homeward journey, we were caught in a sudden hailstorm. Although my car was battered, the storm gave me a small taste of how scared the men must have felt when they were caught on the treeless plains.
I felt very lucky to walk in Lewis and Clark's footsteps. Reading the journals brought the expedition to life, but retracing the route strung it all together. There's no substitute for actually being there when you're trying to write about a place.

Q: Lewis & Clark have become legends in American history. If you could interview them today, what would you ask? What do you think they would say?

JH: I would want to know how Lewis felt when, at the top of Lemhi Pass, he realized that there was no Northwest Passage, that they still had to traverse a huge range of snow-capped mountains before winter set in. His journal entry is very matter-of-fact. I imagine he must have been heartsick at the sight of those mountains sprawled out in front of him.
I would like to ask Lewis and Clark if they realized just how lucky they were in getting help from Native Americans. Without the help of tribes along the way, the expedition would have perished several times over. Did they fully appreciate that? And after spending so much time with the Indians, did their views shift toward aboriginal culture? Did they really believe the Indians were "children" to be looked down on as an inferior race? Later, as the head of Indian Affairs in St. Louis, Clark certainly became sympathetic to Native Americans and their plight. I wonder what the rest of the men felt after the expedition? And what about Sacagawea? Was she sad when the expedition ended? Did the journey open her eyes to a larger world? Where did she get her strength of will, traveling that distance with an infant to care for? And why did she leave her brother, Chief Cameahwait of the Shoshone, to continue with the expedition? Did she even have a choice?
I would want to know what Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and Charbonneau talked about at night when they retired to their tent. I would ask Clark why he took so long to grant York his freedom.I would ask the men if, while they were starving in the Bitterroot Mountains, did they think about eating Lewis's big dog?
I also wonder what the captains would think of today's technology. It's something that struck me as I sped along the Missouri River in my car, traveling distances in a day that took them weeks, rowing and hauling their boats up the swift current. Wouldn't it be fun to show up in 1804 and give Lewis and Clark outboard motors and a GPS receiver? Or even just lightweight hiking boots and Gore-Tex raingear!

Q: The book include a lot of primary sources - like journal entries, and scans of authentic maps. Was it a challenge to make your writing work with these to make the events come alive for readers?

JH: I used excerpts from Lewis, Clark, and several other members of the expedition. Jefferson ordered the captains to keep detailed records of each day's occurrences. The sergeants were also ordered to keep journals, and the privates were encouraged to do the same. The multiple record keeping ensured that at least one set would make it back to civilization, in case of a catastrophe, like a canoe overturning and ruining its contents. It worked out well for historians as well, since the journal writers tended to fill in the blanks for each other. Their diligence is the main reason we know so much about the expedition. It's odd that the party's most descriptive and educated writer, Meriwether Lewis, was the one member who had biggest lapses in his journal entries. Some think he was suffering intermittent bouts of clinical depression. Others guess the missing entries were lost along the route. In any case, the gaps were filled in nicely by other members of the expedition, especially William Clark.
The journals bring the expedition to life. Without them, the journey of the Corps of Discovery is just another historical event, names and dates in a dry textbook. Instead, the journals show us a human side to the expedition. We're there as they haul their boats up the Missouri, as Clark removes prickly pear thorns from his feet, as the party is nearly trampled by bison wandering through their camp at night, with Lewis' dog barking in alarm. We try new foods, marvel at vast herds of wildlife, dance with Native Americans by the light of a bonfire. The journals enrich the expedition, filling the canvas with color and detail.
As a journalist, being able to draw on the journals made my job much easier. Instead of reporting from afar, I was able to take the reader right into camp.

Q: What do you want people who read your book to take away from the experience?

JH: That Lewis, Clark, and the other members of the expedition were real people, not just dry historical figures. They were a group of people using teamwork to get through an unknown land for two and a half years. They're icons of American history, but they had their good traits and bad, like the rest of us.  
I want people to know that the Corps of Discovery wasn't traveling through an uninhabited wilderness—American Indians had lived on the land for centuries. I also want readers to get a sense of how difficult a journey it was, but that through teamwork and perseverance they were able to overcome the most difficult obstacles. They opened up the continent for a young nation.
I wrote that Lewis and Clark "strengthened the claim on the continent." And just as importantly, fired the imagination of a nation. They blazed the trail that would soon be followed by legions of trappers, traders, and settlers. The Lewis and expedition is a story of dedication and courage, friendship and teamwork.