In Search of York: The Slave Who Went to the Pacific With Lewis and Clark. At the outset, In Search of York promises to "rescue" York, an enslaved body servant belonging to William Clark from historicalobscurity and mistreatment. The author, Robert B. Betts, asserts that York faithfully performed his share of the duties related to the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery across the uncharted North American landscape. That alone, rationalizes the author, was sufficient to have won recognition for him; however, York's black skin rendered him a "remarkable phenomenon" to Native Americans who had never seen a person of African descent and made it possible for the mission's safe passage through territory belonging to the potentially hostile Shoshonis.
In searching for the "real" York, the author laments the fact that stereotypical myths about the first known black to see the Pacific Ocean overshadow reality as recorded in the journals of William Clark and Meriwether Lewis. Unfortunately, attempts to debunk myths often direct more attention to subjects or reinforce notions that ought to be scrapped or handled with great aplomb. Betts deplores descriptions of York that are "warped by prejudice," yet he does not steer completely away from offensive remarks of his own when evaluating others. Note, for example, this passage: "[York] has been variously portrayed as a giant of superb physique and stamina; a buffoon who contributed nothing more than comic relief to the expedition; a man whose blackness so appealed to the Indian women that he left a trail of kinkey-haired children across the West." The author excuses the prejudicial treatment of York by his contemporaries, historians, and novelists as a result of "narrow thinking of earlier times rather than deliberate malice." Readers are likely to ask what influenced Betts to accept speculations that York was somewhat irresponsible or to label Native American women "squaws" and their people "primitive" or "savage."
Once past the offensive language, readers will find that the fifteen-chapter study, organized in five parts, contains a useful historiographical overview and links the black explorer tobroader historical debates. It is also clear that Betts engaged in a prodigious amount of research to portray York as an historical figure who contributed to the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Finally, the book contains a multiplicity of wonderful illustrations and beautiful paintings that offer more details about the times in which York lived and worked.
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