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Dear Friends of Lewis & Clark,
We have heard back from many of you regarding our May mailing to the destinations, and gift shops are ordering our book. Thank you for your support! I have a correction to make for the May newsletter: the tall ship was incorrectly identified. It is the "Lady Washington," the official ship of the State of Washington, not the Hawaiian Chieftan, its companion ship.
I will be signing books on the Captain Clark Cruise for the Douglas County Historical Society on July 26th in Omaha; and giving a talk on "Lewis's Encounter with the Blackfeet" at the White Catfish Camp Festival on July 21st at the Western Historic Trails Center in Council Bluffs.
Then I'll be attending the annual meeting of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation in Charlottesville, August 5-7, and selling and signing my book. I will have a few of those cute "Lynch Dawgs" for sale. Hope to see you there!
BREAKING NEWS: As I was about to send off this email, a letter arrived in the postal mail informing me I have been chosen to receive the 2007 Meritorious Achievement Award of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. It will be presented at the Monday luncheon in Charlottesville. That is really nice news indeed! It means a great deal to me to have this endorsement of my work from such dedicated and knowledgeable people.
kira@lewisandclarktravel.com Visit our website |
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Brad Pitt & Edward Norton Will Star in HBO Undaunted Courage Mini Series in 2008
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 National Geographic Films is co-producing with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton a 10 hour HBO mini series, Undaunted Courage, based on Stephen Ambrose's famous book.
The series is in production and scheduled for airing in 2008. Michelle Ashford is the writer and co-executive producer. Pitt and Norton will star in the film. According to an article in Variety, Norton, a big fan of Ambrose's book, sent a copy of Undaunted Courage to Pitt. Soon afterwards, Norton mentioned his interest to National Geographic film executives, who years earlier had optioned the rights to Ambrose's book. It was agreed that to do justice to the story line, an HBO mini series would be the best format.
This should prove to be a classic, as all involved are top notch talent. National Geographic also produced the Lewis and Clark big screen IMAX film which was very well done. It will be fascinating to see how they do the action scenes and the story line.
You may order Undaunted Courage through my Amazon Affiliate Bookstore; it is one of my Top Fifty Lewis and Clark books.
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Great Falls Is Accomplishing Great Things
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Preserving the View
The Great Falls Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, owned and managed by the US Forest Service, is located along the banks of the Missouri River in Great Falls, Montana with an almost unspoiled view of the landscape as it would have appeared 200 years ago. Center Director Jane Weber reports that the interpretive center's foundation acquired 15 acres of land across the river from the center in 2006 (shown here). On June 15th, 2007 the foundation announced a successful fund drive of $200,000 to acquire the buy/sell rights to a house, located on the bottom right of this photo, and an additional 9 acres of property. The full purchase price requires another $185,000. Donors of $500/$1,000/$2,500/$10,000 will be listed on a plaque outside of the Interpretive Center, with a view of the land where Lewis and Clark and their men walked. The house will be razed when the land is acquired. (Contact the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Foundation at (406) 791-7733, or P O Box 398, Great Falls MT, 59403).
Trail Heritage Foundation Has Moved Into the Center
The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation moved to new offices inside the magnificent Trails Center in May. Formerly housed in downtown Great Falls office space, the Trail Heritage Foundation now has a home where it belongs. It's office is located on the ground floor near the entranceway of the center.
The Trail Heritage Foundation William P Sherman Library & Archives, which has always been located on the lower level of the center, has acquired new storage units. Wendy Raney, Editor of We Proceeded On, the Trail Heritage Foundation quarterly journal, demonstrates the new space saving library shelves.
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New Sacagawea Coin Bill Passes House
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 A bill, sponsored by Representative Dale Kildee (D-Michigan) was passed the House of Representatives on June 12th. It will allow the U S Mint to annually change the reverse side of the golden dollar coin to commemorate the achievements of other Native Americans and Indian tribes. The bill must now pass the Senate and be signed into law by the President. If you want to read the bills, search for HR 2358 EH and S.585.IS on the Library of Congress THOMAS site, where you can track legislative action. (THOMAS is named for "In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson.") The Senate bill is sponsored by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota).
The design of the coin is by noted sculptor Glenna Goodacre, whose statue of Sacagawea and her baby Jean Baptiste is located at Lewis & Clark College in Godfrey, Illinois near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
The spelling of "Sacagawea" will also be changed to "Sakakawea" in referring to the coin. "Sakakawea" is the preferred spelling in North Dakota;"Sacajawea" is preferred in Idaho and Washington. "Sacagawea" is most commonly used, with either a hard or soft "g" pronunciation. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark spelled it 14 different ways according to the Encyclopedia of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, another one of my Top 50 Lewis & Clark Books. Lewis indicated it should be pronounced "sah gah ga we ah" meaning "bird woman" in the Hidatsa language. Sacajawea means "boat launcher" in the Shoshone language. Some North Dakota Hidatsa prefer the Sakakawea version with the hard k sound. It all works. |
Lewis and Clark Underwater in St Louis
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The Lewis and Clark statue by sculptor Harry Weber near the Eads Bridge and Gateway Arch in St Louis is turning out to be a first rate tourist attraction during the rainy season. The first photo was taken on March 23rd. The second photo was taken on May 12th. This is as far as the water rose. It can get worse. During the great flood of 1993 the water rose halfway up the great staircase leading up to the Gateway Arch grounds. It would have been way over William Clark's hat. The former site of William Clark's house and Indian Museum near the Arch parking garage is within view of this statue.
What appears to be a bus sinking in the floodwaters of St Louis in the top masthead photo is actually an amphibian land and water tour bus called "Ride the Ducks" in Philadelphia, cruising down the Delaware River. Ride the Ducks provides an 80 minute tour of the historic district of Philadelphia and its waterfront, another Lewis and Clark destination in Lewis and Clark Road Trips. Perhaps St Louis might acquire a Ride the Ducks vehicle for year round touring.
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Darrell Martin Memorial Scholarship Fund
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 Gerard Baker, former Superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, and now Superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, is heading a fund raising drive to pay for one American Indian student in good academic standing to work at Mount Rushmore in the field of Interpretation/Natural Resources. The plan is for the Mount Rushmore Society to match the amount of funds raised in 2007, so you are doubling your money if you donate to this fund honoring Darrell Martin, who passed away in April at age 41. Darrell, a leader of the Fort Belknap Indian community and Montana Tribal Tourism, worked for Gerard developing Native American interpretive materials.
Please send contributions to:
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
c/d Darrell Martin Memorial Scholarship
13000 Highway 244
Building 31, Suite 1
Keystone SD 57751
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Fort Mandan Lewis & Clark Center in North Dakota Marks Tenth Anniversary
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A 1400 pound steel sculpture of Seaman guards a Missouri River overlook at Fort Mandan. The statue by sculptor Tom Leary is double life size. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is located near the highway in Washburn, North Dakota. Fort Mandan, a reconstructed fort and visitor's center, is located two miles west of the highway center. The expedition wintered at Fort Mandan in 1804-05, and it is where Sacagawea's baby, Jean Baptiste, was born on February 11, 1805. The center, under the leadership of Dave Borlaug, President of the Fort Mandan Foundation, has done an outstanding job of commemorating the expedition. The center celebrated its tenth anniversary in June. Currently a special exhibition of Clark family memorabilia is on view through December, 2007.
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Join Discovery Expedition of St Charles
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 If you have ever wanted to hang out with the DESC people, they are inviting people to join. They are the group that went around the country with the boats during the bicentennial. Many local activities take place around the country and several OTR (On The Road) outings are planned. There are long weekends at St Charles where you can help with chores, like building new pirogues and taking care of the old ones at the Boat House Center in St Charles. St Charles is a very old French town on the Missouri River just outside of St Louis; it is one of the neatest places on the entire trail. Dues are $25 a year and include great food while OTR. There is an internet newsletter and active discussion post. Contact Eve at equinsmt@mindspring.com for more information. |
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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. Photo Credits: Ride the Ducks Inc; Great Falls land and LCTHF Library, U.S. Forest Service; U. S. Mint; (1) Betty Kluesner DESC and (2) Patty Wiggins, Lewis and Clark Statue Underwater; Wikipedia; Fort Mandan Foundation; Betty Kluesner DESC. 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
$29.95, 274 pages, 161 maps, over 400 photos, full color Amazon Affiliate BookstoreWebsite Bookstore Featuring the Top Fifty
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Featured Sales Outlets
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If you are selling Lewis and Clark Road Trips, send me an email. If you want to sell the book, visit our retail orders page.
Appaloosa Museum, Moscow Idaho
Great River Road Interpretive Center, Ste Genevieve, Missouri
Jefferson National Memorial Arch, St Louis Missouri
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General Crook House Omaha Nebraska General Dodge House Council Bluffs IowaLewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center, St Charles MissouriMissouri River Basin Lewis and Clark Center, Nebraska City NebraskaKreycik Riverview Elk and Buffalo Ranch, Niobrara NebraskaDakota Dinosaur Museum Dickinson, North DakotaLog Cabin Visitors' Center Vincennes IndianaCottonwoods Gift Shop, Fort Mandan Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Washburn North DakotaArt's Sleeping Buffalo Resort Store, Malta MontanaKlein Museum, Mobridge South DakotaPortage Cache Store Lewis and Clark National Historic Interpetive Center Great Falls MontanaSquire Boone Caverns near Historic Corydon, IndianaAtchison Visitor Information Center, Atchison KansasMuseum of the American Quilter's Society, Paducah KentuckyWestern Historic Trails Center, Council Bluffs IowaStore of Discovery, Lewis & Clark State Historic Site, Hartford Illinois |
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| 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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