Published July 4, 2026 at 4:00 AM CDT

It’s easy to forget that Lewis and Clark didn’t make it from St. Louis to Kansas City all the way to the Pacific Ocean without a team around them.

A new, highly praised book by historian Craig Fehrman titled “This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark” chronicles the expedition and the many people who helped make it a reality. Each chapter of the book is told from a different perspective.

Fehrman will be at the Kansas City Public Library's Central Branch on July 22 to discuss the stories he uncovered and the characters who don't always get mentioned in your everyday U.S. history book.

He told KCUR's Up To Date that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark knew they could not take on an expedition of this scale without a strong crew.

"And it's so interesting to see the help that they found, the help that they weren't expecting, and how this real team effort was necessary to, you know, accomplish this great American adventure," Fehrman said.

• Craig Fehrman, author and historian

This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark, Wednesday, July 22 at 6 p.m. at the Kansas City Public Library's Central Branch, 14 West 10th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64105.