The Making of John Ledyard: Empire and Ambition in the Life of an Early American Traveler

239 Pages·2010·1.03 MB·English

by  Edward G. Gray

THE MAKING OF JOHN LEDYARD

EDWARD G. GRAY
The Making of
John Ledyard
EMPIRE AND AMBITION IN THE LIFE OF AN
EARLY AMERICAN TRAVELER
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW HAVEN & LONDON
Published with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund and the
Annie Burr Lewis Fund.
Copyright © 2007 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except
by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Set in Scala and Scala Sans by Duke & Company, Devon, Pennsylvania.
Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gray, Edward G., 1964–
The making of John Ledyard : empire and ambition in the life of an early American traveler /
Edward G. Gray.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-11055-5 (alk. paper)
1. Ledyard, John, 1751–1789. 2. Explorers—United States—Biography. 3. Travelers—United States
—Biography. 4. Ledyard, John, 1751–1789—Travel. 5. Ledyard, John, 1751–1789—Friends and
associates. 6. Voyages and travels—History—18th century. 7. United States—Description
and travel. 8. Oceania—Description and travel. 9. Russia—Description and travel. I. Title.
G226.L5G73 2007
910.92—dc22
[B]
2006033476
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Stacey
It is true, that of all the animals from the polypus to man, the latter is
the most happy and the most wretched, dancing through life between
these two extremes, he sticks his head among the stars, or his nose in
the earth, or suspended by a cobweb in some middle altitude he hangs
like a being indigenous to no sphere or unfit for any.
—John Ledyard, A Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage to the
Pacific Ocean (1783)
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Quotations xiii
Introduction 1
I A Colonial Childhood 9
II On Stage at Dartmouth College 23
III Serving Captain Cook with Honor 43
IV Seeking Distinction with the Pen Aboard the Resolution 69
V Following the Revolution Home 83
VI From Author to Fur Trader 101
VII Becoming a Traveler in Thomas Jefferson’s Paris 124
VIII Across the Russian Empire 136
viii CONTENTS
IX Despotism and Human Nature in Catherine II’s Russia 153
X To Africa 170
Epilogue: Memories of the Traveler 186
Notes 195
Index 217
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THIS BOOK has been a long time in the making and has left me with
many scholarly and personal debts. I would first like to acknowledge the
institutions that have supported the research and writing. The Huntington
Library granted me a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship for the 1998–99
school year that allowed me to begin the project. From that time on,
the Florida State University Department of History and the College of
Arts and Sciences have provided essential assistance in the form of travel
funds and flexible teaching schedules. I would especially like to thank Neil
Jumonville, chair of the history department, for his unflagging support
and for his enthusiasm for this project. Without Neil’s advocacy, the long
gestation of this book would have been even longer. Finally, I am grate-
ful to the National Endowment for the Humanities for a Fellowship for
University Teachers that allowed me to spend the 2004–05 academic year
completing a draft of the book.
Everyone I know (and some I do not) has endured my many and
ever-shifting justifications for this project. What they all knew, and what
it has taken me some time to recognize, was that a life as extraordinary
as John Ledyard’s was justification enough. I am especially grateful, on
this score, to my F.S.U. colleagues Matt Childs, Mark Cooper, Fritz Davis,
Max Friedman, Sally Hadden, Robinson Herrera, Darrin M. McMahon,
Joe Richardson, and C. Peter Ripley. When I first began thinking about
ix