The year 2004 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In Chalbonneau's Gold, Western historian and author Rita Cleary pens a brilliant saga of that heroic trek into unknown territory. The expedition across the untamed North American continent, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, was an epic undertaking. The trek over the Rocky Mountains and across the great rivers was fraught with hardship, and was of much longer duration than anyone ever expected. Hope for the success of the expedition arrived with the trapper, Toussaint Charbonneau and his wives. The French-Canadian claimed he knew the way to the Pacific Ocean, but it was his young Indian wife, Sacagawea, who would become indispensable to the explorers. Rita Cleary has always been fascinated with Western American history and is a member of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation.