Seaman and the Great Northern Adventure Page 5
We know a lot about this epic journey because Lewis, Clark, and several other members of the expedition kept detailed journals—journals that we can still read today. The other human characters in this story were real people, too. York was a slave who belonged to Captain Clark’s family. Sacagawea was a young Shoshone woman who joined the expedition as their interpreter (and she did have a baby!). The “troublemakers” Moses Reed and John Newman were both members of the expedition who really were punished for bad behavior, including desertion and mutiny. François-Antoine Larocque was a trader for the North West Company (a Canadian fur-trading business)—and an explorer in his own right—who met Lewis and Clark on their journey.
The dangers that Seaman and the time dogs face in my story are based on real events. Lewis and Clark’s men had several encounters with grizzly bears. Antelope swam across the river to escape from wolves, and Seaman really was bitten very badly on the leg by a beaver. A rogue buffalo charged through the camp in the middle of the night. One of the boats was caught up in a gust of wind and almost sank. Lewis describes how Sacagawea saved supplies from being washed away. An important compass was lost (and found again!)—although in real life, this did not happen in the boat accident. It happened when several of the group were on foot and they were caught in a rainstorm on the river. They had a narrow escape and some of their possessions were damaged or washed away (including the baby’s carrier). Coyotes, wildcats, rattlesnakes, hailstones, grass fires, and mudslides were all real hazards. The journals often mention the irritations of mosquitoes and prickly pear spines. Similarly, there are several reports of the men having rather too much whiskey and getting into fights.
The real events that inspired this book happened over many months. For the purposes of the story, I have squashed the time dogs’ adventures into a few days in the summer of 1805. At this time, the expedition was traveling along the Missouri River in what is now Montana. However, the locations in the book do not correspond to specific places, and I have imported some events that happened earlier in the journey. Reed and Newman had both been dismissed and sent back to St. Louis by the spring of 1805. The meeting with Larocque and his party took place earlier in the expedition, at Fort Mandan, where the men spent the winter of 1804–05. Although the two groups spent some time together, and there were some misunderstandings, I invented the incident in which the fight broke out between them. Similarly, as far as I know, Larocque didn’t have a lady friend who trained dogs for the stage!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Helen Moss is the author of many best-loved books for children. She lives near Cambridge, England, with her family—including a menagerie of dogs, hens, gerbils, and lizards. When not writing, she can be found taking the dogs for long walks, climbing trees, playing badminton, and climbing up or skiing down mountains. helenmoss.org.uk, or sign up for email updates here.
Misa Saburi was born in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She currently lives in Brooklyn where she illustrates children’s books, including Monster Trucks, written by Joy Keller, and Bearnard’s Book, written by Deborah Underwood. misasaburi.com, or sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
Henry Holt and Company ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on Helen Moss, click here.
For email updates on Misa Saburi, click here.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
1. The Squeaky, Freaky Flying Machine
2. No Dogs Allowed
3. Duckzilla!
4. The Wrong Trail
5. Now or Never
6. The Right Moment
7. Goodboy, Hero
8. Dangerous!
9. Look Before you Leap
10. No other Options
11. Bad Attitude
12. Tall Tales
13. The Magic Nose
14. Nothing but Trouble
15. Shadows on the Wall
16. Vanished
17. Brainstorm
18. Teamwork
19. The Parting of Ways
20. All Clear
Author’s Note
About the Authors
Copyright
Text copyright © 2019 by Helen Moss
Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Misa Saburi
Henry Holt and Company, Publishers since 1866
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
mackids.com
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018955698
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First hardcover edition, 2019
eBook edition, June 2019
eISBN 9781250186362