The Life & Times of Nathaniel Hale Pryor

Much of the frenzied publishing of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial has been the retelling of a fairly familiar story. But this book is a welcome rescue operation; it’s the first biography of the man who was, probably, the most trusted non-commissioned officer of the Expedition, yet is the least known. Unlike his fellow non-coms, Floyd, Gass and Ordway, he left us no journal to read. Nor did he later write a book, as Sgt. Gass did. And, of course, he did not die dramatically on the Missouri