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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN num: 9780609807101
ISBN number: 0609807102
Label: Three Rivers Press
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: October 16, 2001
Publishing house: Three Rivers Press
Release Date: October 16, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 1514794
Studio: Three Rivers Press
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Contrary to popular opinion, the opening of the American frontier was not a simple land purchase; it was actually a hardscrabble fight. Even as Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on their legendary journey to the Pacific Ocean, other forces were taking the measure of the land with far darker ambitions.
Aaron Burr, the charming and treacherous former vice president, determined that if he could not be master of his nation, he would instead become emperor of the subsequent best thing: the Louisiana Territory. Slyly working with the powerful and ambitious commander of the U.S. Army, General James Wilkinson, Burr instigated a plot to seize not only Louisiana, but all of Mexico as well. Told from a time when the wildest plots and the most grandiose dreams thrived, as schemers and revolutionaries conspired to create a new country, Jefferson and the Gun-Men is the riveting tale of this unlikely story
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
The prinicple narrative thread in Montgomery's "Jefferson and the Gun-Men" is an irreverant account of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Do not expect "Heroic Explorers Contend Against the Wilderness"; rather, it is more like "Laurel and Hardy Go West". Although I would hesitate to take everything Montgomery states at face value -- I cannot but help think he was looking for drama, treachery, and sheer idiocy instead of straight history -- I do find his account useful in one primary regard: he interweaves in a chronologically straightforward manner the activities of not only Lewis and Clark but also of Zebulon Pike (if Lewis and Clark were Laurel and Hardy, then Pike in his view was something of a singlehanded Keystone Kop), Tom Jeffeson, Aaron Burr, and James Wilkinson (commanding general of the US Army and secretly a paid agent of Spain and a conspirator with Aaron Burr to invade Mexico or to set up the western US territories as a separate country or something -- in the end, Wilkinson betrayed Burr and became the chief witness against him in Burr's treason trial). Lewis and Clark's explorations, Pike's wanderings up the Mississippi and in the Southwest, Burr's schemes ... they are all intertwined. So, at a minimum Montgomery's book establishes a common timescale for events usually treated in isolation. But I would urge the reader to go beyond Montgomery's book to read other viewpoints about these men and their activities.
Rated by buyers 
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The basic story is intriguing and very gripping, but is it the truth? The book could have been wonderful, but is seriously flawed. Snippets of tales appear haphazardly, making the reading of it less flowing - and on two instances the facts were contrary to basic knowledge of any 6th grade student in history:
1.) Andrew Jackson was not destined to be President in 1820. (He took office in 1829, I recall without looking it up.)
2.) Thomas Jefferson was not the 2nd President. (What ever happened to John Adams?)
When these obvious errors appeared, I thought perhaps the rest of the book was junk too, so why bother reading this.
Rated by buyers -
The very first thing that grabs you about Montgomery's tome is his style -- his passages are witty, bordering on glib, and he is not burdened by a reverence for his subject matter that makes so many other histories rather dull. He has an obvious affection for some of his characters (such as Clark and Sacagawea), to be sure, but he also sees them as real people rather than demigods. Montgomery's savaging of other characters is a particular delight. This style is a plus, and makes for fun reading.
But the book is fraught with errors, as other reviewers have observed. I'll content myself with only one, which should have also been caught by Montgomery's editor -- on more than one occasion, Montgomery refers to the duel between Burr and Madison, incorrectly substituting Madison for Hamilton. While this mistake is so obvious that nobody is mis-led by it, it says little for the care that went into the writing and editing of the book and undermines its credibility.
Is the book entertaining? Sure. But it's got the same historical value as "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," and that's sad, because it could have been so much more.
Rated by buyers 
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Quite frankly I wish I had read the many other reviews before I invested in this book. The author makes much of correcting Clark's spelling errors, but his own errors reveal he did not go much beyond the spelling. Especially egregious is the one where he tells us that we cannot know from the jouurnals how many canoes were made by Lewis and Clark at the top of Great Falls. The number is given explicitly in the journal entries for three days: July 9, 10, and 14. Because of this I will try to find other books about Burr, wilkinson and Pike.
Rated by buyers -
I claim no special knowldge of Jefferson or General Wilkinson but I do when it comes to Zebulon Montgomery Pike. This book bristles with factual errors concerning this great American. The author apparently never visited Colorado or he would not claim that Pike never even saw the massif that was named for him. Pikes Peak can be seen for a hundred miles or more from the eastern prarie which was Pike's route along the Arkansas River. Pike wrote from South Park that he had continually seen what he called Grand Peak every day (except when he was in the valleys) for the past two months. The author claims that Pike only ascended some foothill when he attempted to climb what would become Pikes Peak, when the truth is he climbned Mt. Rosa, 11,499' which was the very first recorded ascent of any mountain in the American West. Moreover, he was the very first American, in the United States, to reach the Alpine Zone (11,400' in Colorado). Some foothill.
Pike was made a captain in November of 1806 while the author claims it happened in 1808.
Pike died a hero's death for his country in the Battle of York. The author all but calls him a traitor. He apparently thinks that this young man came to Colorado to start a war with Spain. He asks us to believe that he and his men knew the location of Sante Fe and ignores the fact that Pike did not turn south at Canon City Colorado which would take them there in a few weeks. Instead Pike led his men into the Rocky Mountain Winter to the north-west, away from Sante Fe.
The author insults such noted historians Steven Harding Hart and Archer B. Hulbert, Harvey Carter,Eugene Hollon, and Donald D. Jackson by claiming Pike has 'slipped beneath the notice of professional histonians.' He implies nothing but juvenile historians should deal with him further.
Zebulon Pike is the Viet-Nam Vet of our early explorers. He starved, and froze, and became exhaused for our country as a matter of course. He led his men in the field of battle and won the very first victory in the War of 1812. He made a marine type landing in the face of well armed and alerted Brittish Regulars, malitia and pro-Brit Indians. The author says he had an easy victory over a few 'Canadians' who difended Fort York. Authors like Montgomery have given Pike scant credit for his many acompolishments. He even claims Pike was never within 100 miles of the Sante Fe Trail. Pike followed the Arkansas River from Great Bend Kansas to Canon City. The Sante Fe Trail follows the Arkansas River from Great Bend, Kansas all the way to Bent's Fort, near Las Animas, Colorado where it turns south to Raton Pass. Why not give him his due?
Pike's greatest accompolishment was not even mentioned in the book. Pike opened the eyes of America to what was going on in New Spain. Pike told America how the people were slaves to either Cross or Crown. He said their lives were regulated by the peal of the church bell or the rattle of the drum. He told how anxious the people of Mexico (northern New Spain) yearned for freedom and trade with America. Pike predicted the revolution of 1810 and said not one officer in a hundred was loyal to Madrid. Pike was the revealer who lived and died for his country and none of this is even mentioned. So many errors of fact and such a broad conclusion. As far as Pike is concerned much of this book should be in a novel, as it is not non-fiction.
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