First Across the Continent

A million square miles for fifteen million dollars—and some Americans called it a useless wilderness. Thomas Jefferson’s answer was to send a twenty-nine-year-old captain into the blank on the map.

In 1803, the United States had stretched its claim from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but vast plains, mountain ranges and the route between them remained little known to white Americans. Meriwether Lewis, joined by William Clark, is chosen to lead an expedition into this immense new territory, where they must find their way across country few had traversed and learn what lies beyond the Missouri. The skeptics call the purchase folly; the journey will test what can be discovered—and whether the continent’s far side can be reached. What will Lewis and Clark find beyond the last familiar river?

With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world.

Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.