From The Steak Lover's Diet by Dr. Melvin Anchell:

"Stephen E. Ambrose gives an accurate, fascinating account of the Lewis
and Clark Expedition at the beginning of the 19th century in his book
Undaunted Courage........

The expedition party consisted of Meriwether Lewis and George Rogers
Clark along with 31 men and a 15-year-old Indian girl............

The way these people endured hardship was superhuman.  During their
4,000 mile trek across the unknown Northwest from St. Louis to the
Pacific and 4,000 miles back, they overcame extremes of heat, cold, the
vastness of the plains, scorching deserts, enormous
mountains...........That list doesn't include injuries and severe
diseases..........All of these were treated by Meriwether Lewis with
injurious procedures, such as bloodletting, exhaustive laxatives,
poisonous herbs, and dangerous chemical medicines.

Despite all, the entire Lewis and Clark party not only endured the trip
to the Pacific and back, but they flourished.  None of the problems
mentioned was the major factor in determining the success of the
expedition.  The primary problem, and the one responsible for its
success, was food.  And what was the food that was responsible for the
success of the adventure?  Meat!  Fresh meat, cooked meat, dried meat,
jerked meat, raw meat, stale meat.

From Ambroses' description, it seems certain that if it were not for the
tremendous strengthening qualities of this one food, the Lewis and Clark
explorers would not have survived..........The meat obtained by the
Lewis and Clark hunters consisted of buffalo, deer, elk, anteloupe,
beaver, bear, wolf, coyote, prairie dog, geese, swans, mallard duck,
grouse, and all other animals that could be found in the Northwest at
that time.  In the book, Ambrose tells how 'the favorite food was
beaver, for it was laden with fat.'

The strengthening qualities associated with their practically 100
percent meat diet allowed these men not only to survive unbelievable
physical and mental hardships, but it made them extraordinarily
healthy.  During periods where meat became scarce and they were forced,
out of necessity, to consume plant food ("roots"), the explorers' health
deteriorated and nutritional disturbances occurred.

When game and meat were plentiful, Ambrose writes that during these
times 'The sense of being in a Garden of Eden was strong.  There were
fat deer, elk, beaver and other species in numbers scarcely conceivable.

Each soldier consumed up to nine pounds (or more) of meat per day...When
meat was plentiful every individual of the party was in good health and
excellent spirits...'"

I thought we might find this interesting since these men were basically
living as hunter/gatherers.  There are a couple more pages of specifics
from this book that I will type in later.

Paula H.