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Dear Friends of Lewis & Clark,
Thank you for your response to our first newsletter! I received over 50 emails in reply, and almost 700 of you opened the newsletter. Over the next month we will be doing a direct mail marketing to all of the 800 plus destinations in Lewis and Clark Road Trips, sending a brochure and tear sheet page from the book showing the destination listing. We are asking your help in placing the book in local retail stores and in libraries and schools.
The idea is to build a community. We need to understand how special our blended heritage is, the history of the early United States and the native peoples who have lived here for thousands of years.
Don't forget to take a look at our Trip Planner on the website, with links to the websites and MapQuest maps for all the destinations.
kira@lewisandclarktravel.com Visit our website |
200 Year Old Secret Army Post in Southern IL
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 Cantonment Wilkinsonville, named for James Wilkinson, the Commanding General of the United States Army, was secretly established near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in 1801-02. At its peak strength, approximately 1200-1300 men (1/3 of the entire army) were stationed at the cantonment, including at least 6-7 men who became members of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery.
Learn more about its history and the archaeology digs and research conducted by Southern Illinois University in 2004-05 by reading my blog Cantonment Wilkinsonville. Historians will be rewriting the history of this pivotal time period for a long time to come! Would members of the Corps of Discovery been heading Southwest instead of Northwest, if Aaron Burr had won the presidency instead of Thomas Jefferson? |
Great Falls, Montana Portage Route Gets Rare Impact Study
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The National Historic Preservation office has ordered a rare "Section 213 Study" of the proposed location of a coal-fired power plant, the Highwood Generating Station, at the site of the Lewis and Clark Portage Route (a National Historic Landmark) just one week before a final decision was to be made. The study by the National Park Service will take several months to complete. To read more about it visit the Montana Environmental Information Center website. This is one of least altered sites on the entire national trail. Many of the best trail stories took place here: the story of Sacagawea and her near death from illness at the Lower Portage Camp and her recovery at the Sulphur Springs; the thunderstorm which almost drowned William Clark, Sacagawea, Charbonneau and Pompey when they took refuge in a canyon gully; and the absolutely heroic efforts of the entire Corps to portage their heavy boats and gear around the Great Falls across 17 miles of barren landscape filled with prickley pear cactus. |
Lewis & Clark 1814 Journal for Sale at $285,000
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Pictured here is an original journal, published in 1814. You may buy it for $285,000 from Powell's Rare & Collectible collection. Powells has other rare editions for sale. I was offered the chance to subscribe to Gary Moulton's hardcover edition of the journals back in 1983. I wish I had! A complete 1st edition set of the 13 volumes, signed by Gary Moulton, is offered for sale at $5,000. My book, however, is still a very affordable 1st edition; available through local bookstores and my Amazon Affiliate Bookstore. |
ND, SD, MT All Want Sitting Bull Grave
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 The famous Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux Chief and Holy Man Sitting Bull was buried in 1890 on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation at Fort Yates, North Dakota. In 1953 his bones were secretly removed and reburied at Mobridge, South Dakota, where this monument by Korczak Ziolkowski (the sculptor of Crazy Horse Mountain) is located.
In January, 2007 the State of North Dakota returned the five acre former burial site to the Standing Rock tribe. The tribe, which now owns both sites, plans many improvements. However, four descendants of Sitting Bull say they want his bones moved to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana.
All three of these sites are among the destinations in Lewis and Clark Road Trips. Read Sitting Bull's bio on Wikipedia and about the burial sites on the Friends of the Little Bighorn website and a Missoulian news story.
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| Sioux City, Iowa Center Expansion |
The Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center is featuring an exhibit of trail photos by Don Doll, S. J. author of Vision Quest: Men, Women and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation. The photo shown here is of Beaver Rock in Montana. The center will become the Sioux City Encounter Center when an addition to the building is completed in the fall of 2007. The new exhibition space for art and photography will nearly double the size of the center. The center's new name and Encounter theme will emphasize contact between area cultures from Lewis and Clark onward. |
| Chokecherry Kids at Cut Bluff Overlook Park Dedication in North Dakota |
 The State of North Dakota adopted the Chokecherry Bush as the official State Fruit in 2007. A group of Williston ND sixth graders nominated the chokecherry after doing research using Lewis and Clark and native sources. They are shown here at a tree planting during the dedication of the new Cut Bluff Overlook Park near Williston on April 21st. The bluff, named by Meriwether Lewis on April 21, 1804, has a beautiful picnic shelter, fire pit, Lewis and Clark statues and markers, and, of course, chokecherry bushes.
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| John Collins Marker Dedication at Historic South Mountain Inn in Maryland |
 The Old South Mountain Inn dates back to 1790. The historic restaurant is located at the summit of South Mountain in Frederick County, Maryland on the Old National Road. A marker was dedicated here on April 14th to the memory of Corps of Discovery member John Collins, a native of the area. Collins was killed in 1823 during the Arikara attack on the Ashley Expedition in South Dakota. He was the first Marylander to cross the North American continent. Members of the Collins family attended the dedication. Todd Bolton of the Ohio River Chapter of LCTHF arranged for the marker. |
| Lost Again in Nebraska and South Dakota |
 Shannon Trail promoters in Northeastern Nebraska lost the contest to name a 1924 bridge across the Missouri River for George Shannon, the youngest member of the Corps of Discovery who was lost in the area for 12 days in 1804. The award-winning Shannon Trail features wooden chainsaw statues of George scattered around 16 small towns in the beautiful hilly landscape of the Niobrara River Valley. The name chosen for the bridge is Yankton Discovery Bridge. However, the name is not official, as contest organizers in Yankton, South Dakota thought it was too much trouble to complete the government paperwork. The State of Nebraska is in charge of constructing a new 30 million dollar bridge which will replace the old bridge in 2009. The old bridge will become a biking-hiking trail. The Missouri River in unchannelized in this area, and is a favorite destination for canoeing and float trips. Visit the website of the Missouri National Recreational River Resource and Education Center at Ponca State Park to learn more. |
| The Biddle Connection Continues |
 Q: What unites three of the photos featured in this newsletter: the flag raising, the rare journals, and this photo of Beacon Rock in Stevenson, Washington, a Lewis and Clark landmark?
A: The Biddle Connection
Nicholas Biddle was the first editor of the Lewis and Clark Journals (the rare 1814 edition), and the first President of the Second Bank in Philadelphia. The Second Bank Portrait Gallery now houses the famous Lewis and Clark portraits by Charles Willson Peale. Henry Biddle, a member of the family, was an early photographer and botanist in Washington who once owned Beacon Rock. Another family member is young Derek Biddle, who participated in the Discovery Expedition of St Charles reenactment of the journey and is seen above on the right raising the flag. | |
We are Proceeding On along the Lewis and Clark Trail, developing an internet heritage tourism trail across the United States. Please add a link from your own website to the Lewis and Clark Road Trips website and subscribe to the blog. We will link back. The photo at the top, "Raising the Flag," is by Betty Kluesner, Discovery Expedition of St Charles. Roger Strater is seen with Derek Biddle. Cut Bluff tree planting photo by Wendy Chamberlin, DESC. Beacon Rock by Lyn Topinka.
Contact me if you would like to see something featured in this newsletter.
Sincerely,
Kira Gale
River Junction Press LLC |
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Lewis and Clark
Road Trips
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Lewis and Clark Road Trips: Exploring theTrail Across Americaby Kira Gale"this outstanding guidebook is necessary for any traveler... for all travel collections" Library Journal
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| The Columbia River A Photographic Journey by Lyn Topinka |
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Betty Kluesner DESC, Lyn Topinka and Gene Burch all contributed photos to Lewis and Clark Road Trips |
| Past Issues of the Newsletter |
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Past issues of the newsletter are available in the Media section of the Lewis and Clark Road Trips website. | |
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