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The best of Lewis & Clark
By Tom Uhlenbrock, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Saturday, May 15, 2004 | 1 comment(s)
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If you're thinking of commemorating the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's journey by retracing their footsteps, here's a word of advice: Don't.
That epic voyage was marked as much by the heroism of the men, and woman, as by its extreme hardships. They poled their boat up rivers, slathered on bear grease to ward off mosquitoes as big as dragonflies and camped out on nights when the temperature plummeted to 45 degrees below zero.
A couple of years ago, I re-enacted just a tiny portion of their trip by sleeping out on a moonless January night outside a re-creation of Fort Mandan, where they stayed in North Dakota. It only got to 6 below, but that was enough to send me scurrying back to a motel room.
When they could, the explorers stuck to the rivers, and most of the rivers have changed in the past 200 years, many of them dammed. The Missouri is now a swift, shallow barge canal that challenges even a veteran captain. There's just one marina on the 560 miles of the river in Missouri.
You can follow the roads that follow the Missouri along a nationally designated Lewis and Clark Historic Trail of highways, but the going is tedious and the sightseeing often disappointing. A Chicago writer recently made the 10-day trip from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. "A lot of brown grass," he wrote.
Even the designated landmarks aren't always what they seem. The new Lewis and Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, Ill., includes a replica of Camp River DuBois, the winter camp that was the departure point for the Corps of Discovery expedition on May 14, 1804.
"Not the exact spot," said site manager Brad Winn. "That's probably three or four miles north of here on the border of the towns of Hartford and Wood River. To be honest with you, it's probably a refinery."
There's a better way to get in on the festivities. The National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial has selected 15 "signature events" among the hundreds planned nationally to honor the explorers. The first was held in Charlottesville, Va., in January at Monticello, the palatial home where Thomas Jefferson dreamed up the voyage to see what he got in the Louisiana Purchase.
That means 14 are left. A good way to get in on the action is to choose among the events and attend one or more that would allow a side trip to some of the remaining natural areas that the expedition passed through. You can explore an 1804 village, meet with the Indian tribes and see where the expedition spent a miserable winter.
The events are spread over the next three years. Here's the calendar and descriptions, with information taken from the Web site at http://www.lewisandclark200.org:
Expedition's Departure: Camp River DuBois, May 13-16, 2004, Hartford and Wood River: Re-enactors will leave the re-created camp, board their boat from the east bank of the Mississippi and head into the mouth of the Missouri River. The state historic site, which opened in December 2002, has an interpretive center that features a scale model of the keelboat used in the expedition, and a riverside monument with a view of the confluence of the two great rivers. The spot provides a real feel for what the expedition faced, but even the location of the confluence has changed. "That's what a lot of people are interested in doing, finding those moments where they stand in the same spot," said Winn, the site manager. "But we know from some of the old river maps that the confluence has shifted at least twice."
n Preparations Complete, the Expedition Faces West, St. Charles, May 14-23, 2004: The keelboat arrives May 15 and finds the village of St. Charles and its 450 inhabitants as they were in 1804. Booths will feature period food and 19th-century crafts. The re-enactment will include reconstructed buildings, interpreters in authentic dress, an Indian encampment and horse and carriage parades. On May 23, the keelboat and pirogues, manned by the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles crew, will head upriver. St. Charles also is the departing point for the 225-mile Katy Trail, which passes limestone bluffs, creeks and campsites the explorers described in their journals.
Heart of America, a Journey Fourth (cq), July 3-4, 2004, Kansas City and Atchison and Leavenworth in Kansas: The three communities will salute the first Independence Day celebrated in the American West. On July 4, 1804, the expedition celebrated the 28th birthday of the Declaration of Independence by firing its swivel cannon and passing out an extra ration of whiskey. Activities will include fireworks over the Missouri River. Bring your own whiskey.
First Tribal Council, July 31-Aug. 3, 2004, Fort Atkinson Historical Park, Fort Calhoun, Neb.: The park is nine miles north of Omaha. The centerpiece will be an outdoor re-enactment of the meeting between the Corps of Discovery and the Otoe and Missouria tribes. Towns and cities along the trail in Nebraska and Iowa plan four days of festivities. Now we're getting into some territory where the landscape resembles what Lewis and Clark saw. The Missouri River there is still dammed for navigation, but the Niobrara River, which L&C called the Rapid River, is a national scenic river that is little changed.
Oceti Sakowin Experience, Remembering and Educating, Aug. 27-Sept. 26, 2004, tribal lands in South Dakota: L&C had peaceful relationships with the tribes of the Sioux Nation, which dominated the Great Plains. Five tribes have land or reservations along the Missouri River: the Yankton Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux, Lower Brule Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux and Standing Rock Sioux. The Alliance of Tribal Tourism Advocates plans several events, including powwows, traditional arts demonstrations, an Indian art show and auction and a Circle of Tipis in Chamberlain and Oacoma.
Circle of Cultures, Time of Renewal and Exchange, Oct. 22-31, 2004, Bismarck, N.D.: The Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1804-05 there, among the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara. Fort Mandan has been re-created, and nearby is the new North Dakota Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Sixty miles to the north is the Knife River Villages National Historic Site, where the explorers met a 16-year-old Shoshone girl named Sacagawea. Because the route so far on the Missouri had been explored already, Lewis wrote upon leaving Fort Mandan on April 7, 1805: "We were now about to penetrate a country at least 2,000 miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden."
Explore the Big Sky, June 1-July 4, 2005, Great Falls, Mont.: The communities of Great Falls and Fort Benton offer 33 days of tours, river float trips, pageantry, literature fairs and re-enactments to commemorate the expedition's second Independence Day in the West and the end of the tortuous portage around the famous "White Cliffs of the Missouri." The stretch of river is now a national monument, and visitors can float it by canoe, kayak or river raft, enjoying the same view as the explorers. Activities on July 3 will include the finals of the International Traditional Indian Games and the premier performance of the opera "Poia, the Blackfeet Story of Scarface."
Destination 2005 - the Pacific, Nov. 24-27, 2005, Astoria, Ore.: On Nov. 7, 1805, Clark, a notoriously bad speller, wrote in his journal: "Ocian in View! O! the joy." The expedition had arrived at the Pacific Ocean and voted to spend the winter at Fort Clatsop. Although the explorers wrote of a wet and miserable time and had little good to say about the native peoples, their stay will be commemorated with events at the Fort Clatsop National Memorial and other Lewis and Clark sites, some across the Columbia River in Washington. The festivities will include a special public Thanksgiving dinner, live theater at three venues in Astoria and an exposition at the county fairgrounds.
Among the Nez Perce, June 14-17, 2006, Nez Perce National Historical Park, Idaho: Although details of this event are still being planned, Idaho could be one of the top spots to visit and see what the expedition members saw. Lewis and Clark crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass in August 1805 and were dismayed to find a barrage of mountain ranges before them. The pass is now a national historic landmark. The Nez Perce Trail that L&C followed can be walked today, making for some adventurous hiking.
Clark on the Yellowstone, July 22-25, 2006, Pompeys Pillar, 25 miles east of Billings, Mont.: William Clark was heading down the Yellowstone River when he came upon a sandstone pillar, which he climbed and marked with his name and the date. He named the rock Pompeys Tower, in honor of Sacagawea's infant son, whom he called "Pomp." The inscription is the only remaining physical evidence of the expedition's passing. The formation is one of America's newest national monuments, and communities along the Yellowstone are inviting visitors to tour the interpretive center and take part in river floats, historical re-enactments and Indian games. A boardwalk leads up the pillar to Clark's signature.
Home of Sacagawea, Aug. 17-20, 2006, New Town, N.D.: To mark the 200th anniversary of the voyagers' return to the Knife River Villages, home of Sacagawea, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation plan an event that will give Indian perspectives on the expedition. The event will focus on the contributions of Sacagawea, the only woman on the expedition. The festivities include a market and trade show, men's traditional dance tournament, cultural demonstration and re-enactments and tours of Indian country. For those who cherish a spot where they can stand where the explorers stood, the site of the village near the river is marked by the round foundations of the former earthen lodges.
Confluence With Destiny: The Return of Lewis and Clark, Sept. 23, 2006, St. Louis: The expedition officially ended when Lewis and Clark arrived in St. Louis on Sept. 23, 1806. Their arrival will be re-created by a flotilla of watercraft that will set out from various historic sites on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The boats will converge on the St. Louis riverfront.
That epic voyage was marked as much by the heroism of the men, and woman, as by its extreme hardships. They poled their boat up rivers, slathered on bear grease to ward off mosquitoes as big as dragonflies and camped out on nights when the temperature plummeted to 45 degrees below zero.
A couple of years ago, I re-enacted just a tiny portion of their trip by sleeping out on a moonless January night outside a re-creation of Fort Mandan, where they stayed in North Dakota. It only got to 6 below, but that was enough to send me scurrying back to a motel room.
When they could, the explorers stuck to the rivers, and most of the rivers have changed in the past 200 years, many of them dammed. The Missouri is now a swift, shallow barge canal that challenges even a veteran captain. There's just one marina on the 560 miles of the river in Missouri.
You can follow the roads that follow the Missouri along a nationally designated Lewis and Clark Historic Trail of highways, but the going is tedious and the sightseeing often disappointing. A Chicago writer recently made the 10-day trip from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. "A lot of brown grass," he wrote.
Even the designated landmarks aren't always what they seem. The new Lewis and Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, Ill., includes a replica of Camp River DuBois, the winter camp that was the departure point for the Corps of Discovery expedition on May 14, 1804.
"Not the exact spot," said site manager Brad Winn. "That's probably three or four miles north of here on the border of the towns of Hartford and Wood River. To be honest with you, it's probably a refinery."
There's a better way to get in on the festivities. The National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial has selected 15 "signature events" among the hundreds planned nationally to honor the explorers. The first was held in Charlottesville, Va., in January at Monticello, the palatial home where Thomas Jefferson dreamed up the voyage to see what he got in the Louisiana Purchase.
That means 14 are left. A good way to get in on the action is to choose among the events and attend one or more that would allow a side trip to some of the remaining natural areas that the expedition passed through. You can explore an 1804 village, meet with the Indian tribes and see where the expedition spent a miserable winter.
The events are spread over the next three years. Here's the calendar and descriptions, with information taken from the Web site at http://www.lewisandclark200.org:
Expedition's Departure: Camp River DuBois, May 13-16, 2004, Hartford and Wood River: Re-enactors will leave the re-created camp, board their boat from the east bank of the Mississippi and head into the mouth of the Missouri River. The state historic site, which opened in December 2002, has an interpretive center that features a scale model of the keelboat used in the expedition, and a riverside monument with a view of the confluence of the two great rivers. The spot provides a real feel for what the expedition faced, but even the location of the confluence has changed. "That's what a lot of people are interested in doing, finding those moments where they stand in the same spot," said Winn, the site manager. "But we know from some of the old river maps that the confluence has shifted at least twice."
n Preparations Complete, the Expedition Faces West, St. Charles, May 14-23, 2004: The keelboat arrives May 15 and finds the village of St. Charles and its 450 inhabitants as they were in 1804. Booths will feature period food and 19th-century crafts. The re-enactment will include reconstructed buildings, interpreters in authentic dress, an Indian encampment and horse and carriage parades. On May 23, the keelboat and pirogues, manned by the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles crew, will head upriver. St. Charles also is the departing point for the 225-mile Katy Trail, which passes limestone bluffs, creeks and campsites the explorers described in their journals.
Heart of America, a Journey Fourth (cq), July 3-4, 2004, Kansas City and Atchison and Leavenworth in Kansas: The three communities will salute the first Independence Day celebrated in the American West. On July 4, 1804, the expedition celebrated the 28th birthday of the Declaration of Independence by firing its swivel cannon and passing out an extra ration of whiskey. Activities will include fireworks over the Missouri River. Bring your own whiskey.
First Tribal Council, July 31-Aug. 3, 2004, Fort Atkinson Historical Park, Fort Calhoun, Neb.: The park is nine miles north of Omaha. The centerpiece will be an outdoor re-enactment of the meeting between the Corps of Discovery and the Otoe and Missouria tribes. Towns and cities along the trail in Nebraska and Iowa plan four days of festivities. Now we're getting into some territory where the landscape resembles what Lewis and Clark saw. The Missouri River there is still dammed for navigation, but the Niobrara River, which L&C called the Rapid River, is a national scenic river that is little changed.
Oceti Sakowin Experience, Remembering and Educating, Aug. 27-Sept. 26, 2004, tribal lands in South Dakota: L&C had peaceful relationships with the tribes of the Sioux Nation, which dominated the Great Plains. Five tribes have land or reservations along the Missouri River: the Yankton Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux, Lower Brule Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux and Standing Rock Sioux. The Alliance of Tribal Tourism Advocates plans several events, including powwows, traditional arts demonstrations, an Indian art show and auction and a Circle of Tipis in Chamberlain and Oacoma.
Circle of Cultures, Time of Renewal and Exchange, Oct. 22-31, 2004, Bismarck, N.D.: The Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1804-05 there, among the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara. Fort Mandan has been re-created, and nearby is the new North Dakota Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Sixty miles to the north is the Knife River Villages National Historic Site, where the explorers met a 16-year-old Shoshone girl named Sacagawea. Because the route so far on the Missouri had been explored already, Lewis wrote upon leaving Fort Mandan on April 7, 1805: "We were now about to penetrate a country at least 2,000 miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden."
Explore the Big Sky, June 1-July 4, 2005, Great Falls, Mont.: The communities of Great Falls and Fort Benton offer 33 days of tours, river float trips, pageantry, literature fairs and re-enactments to commemorate the expedition's second Independence Day in the West and the end of the tortuous portage around the famous "White Cliffs of the Missouri." The stretch of river is now a national monument, and visitors can float it by canoe, kayak or river raft, enjoying the same view as the explorers. Activities on July 3 will include the finals of the International Traditional Indian Games and the premier performance of the opera "Poia, the Blackfeet Story of Scarface."
Destination 2005 - the Pacific, Nov. 24-27, 2005, Astoria, Ore.: On Nov. 7, 1805, Clark, a notoriously bad speller, wrote in his journal: "Ocian in View! O! the joy." The expedition had arrived at the Pacific Ocean and voted to spend the winter at Fort Clatsop. Although the explorers wrote of a wet and miserable time and had little good to say about the native peoples, their stay will be commemorated with events at the Fort Clatsop National Memorial and other Lewis and Clark sites, some across the Columbia River in Washington. The festivities will include a special public Thanksgiving dinner, live theater at three venues in Astoria and an exposition at the county fairgrounds.
Among the Nez Perce, June 14-17, 2006, Nez Perce National Historical Park, Idaho: Although details of this event are still being planned, Idaho could be one of the top spots to visit and see what the expedition members saw. Lewis and Clark crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass in August 1805 and were dismayed to find a barrage of mountain ranges before them. The pass is now a national historic landmark. The Nez Perce Trail that L&C followed can be walked today, making for some adventurous hiking.
Clark on the Yellowstone, July 22-25, 2006, Pompeys Pillar, 25 miles east of Billings, Mont.: William Clark was heading down the Yellowstone River when he came upon a sandstone pillar, which he climbed and marked with his name and the date. He named the rock Pompeys Tower, in honor of Sacagawea's infant son, whom he called "Pomp." The inscription is the only remaining physical evidence of the expedition's passing. The formation is one of America's newest national monuments, and communities along the Yellowstone are inviting visitors to tour the interpretive center and take part in river floats, historical re-enactments and Indian games. A boardwalk leads up the pillar to Clark's signature.
Home of Sacagawea, Aug. 17-20, 2006, New Town, N.D.: To mark the 200th anniversary of the voyagers' return to the Knife River Villages, home of Sacagawea, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation plan an event that will give Indian perspectives on the expedition. The event will focus on the contributions of Sacagawea, the only woman on the expedition. The festivities include a market and trade show, men's traditional dance tournament, cultural demonstration and re-enactments and tours of Indian country. For those who cherish a spot where they can stand where the explorers stood, the site of the village near the river is marked by the round foundations of the former earthen lodges.
Confluence With Destiny: The Return of Lewis and Clark, Sept. 23, 2006, St. Louis: The expedition officially ended when Lewis and Clark arrived in St. Louis on Sept. 23, 1806. Their arrival will be re-created by a flotilla of watercraft that will set out from various historic sites on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The boats will converge on the St. Louis riverfront.
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