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Dear Friends of Lewis & Clark,  I had a great time at the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation meeting in Charlottesville. We visited the homes of 3 presidents, Jefferson's Monticello, Madison's Montpelier and Monroe's Ashlawn, and the University of Virginia Rotunda, which was designed by Jefferson. I have two new blogs on Monticello, and I will be editing a short video. The first blog is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello: the Ultimate House and Garden Experience and the second is Jefferson at Home: Personal Reminiscences. I bought a book at the gift shop containing accounts by a slave who ran Jefferson's nail factory at Monticello and an overseer who worked for Jefferson for many years and I have tried to capture some of his spirit in this blog. Monticello is truly an awesome experience. The photo shows me with my bag of new books on the walkway leading to Jefferson's porch and greenhouse outside of his famous study.
 NEWS IN BRIEF: I got the Meritorious Achievement award at the meeting, which I treasure. I sold all my books, and those little Lynch prairie dawgs were adopted on sight. Seen here are chapter members from the Sunnyside of Louisville at the hotel bar, where I discovered the oldest beer in America on tap, Yuengling Beer from Pottsville PA, first brewed in 1829. DESC reenactors camped outside the Doubletree and entertained us at night with campfire sing alongs.
The Photo and Video Trail Gallery, the Study Group Forum and the Travel Forum will go up on the website over the next month, and start in October. Several people have already promised to share their videos and photos. If you want to write about your travel experiences/encourage people to visit your area, the Travel Forum is there for that purpose. We will be starting a 15 week study group at the Omaha Public Library in October, and I'll post a study guide to help other groups get started. You may also participate as individuals, whenever you want.
Thanks for all your feedback! I was really pleased to visit with people who have used my travel guide and found it very practical and helpful. That's what we intended when we dreamed it up. I have the same hopes for the Forums, which will depend upon your participation to make them all they can be.
Kira
kira@lewisandclarktravel.com Visit our website |
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Sacagawea dollar coins a hit in Ecuador
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 500 million dollars worth of Sacagawea coins have been sent to Ecuador since April, 2002. Since the year 2000, U. S. currency has been legal tender in Ecuador in an effort to shore up the Ecuadorian economy.
Many Ecuadorians believe Sacagawea is a native of their country from the mountains. How's that for another twist on the Sacagawea coin story? Even more bizarre, there is a thriving market in counterfeit Sacagawea coins, made in Columbia and shipped to Ecuador. Read more about it in Timothy Benford's article on the web, which was referred to in the Numismatic Bibliomania News (volume 10, number 34, August 26, 2007). I also have increased my general knowledge by learning that Ecuador means equator, and that there are lines, monuments and signs indicating the equator in Ecuador. It would be fun to go spend some Sacagawea dollars and visit the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador's first national park.
NATIVE AMERICAN $1 COIN ACT DELAYED BY SPELLING
The Native American $1 Coin Act is caught in the middle of a controversy over whether the name on the coin bill should be spelled "Sacagawea" as stated in H.R. 2358, introduced by Rep. Dale Kildee D-MI on May 17; or "Sakakawea" as stated in S. 585, introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan D-ND on Feb 14. The matter should be resolved amicably, as the name is not on the actual coin itself. The Sacagawea coin will continue as it is now, but the reverse side of the coin will feature prominent Native American individuals and events, such as the Cherokee written language, the Iroquois Confederacy, Olympic star Jim Thorpe, and the Navajo code talkers of WWI and WWII. It is stipulated that the size of the figure on the reverse side shall not be so large as to be considered a "two headed coin." After the matter is resolved, the first coin will be issued in 2009 and the reverse side will change on a yearly basis. (from an article by David Ganz in The Numismatic News, August 22, 2007)
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Boy Scouts form partnership with Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation
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 The Trail Heritage Foundation announced some very big news at the annual meeting. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Boy Scouts of America on August 6, 2007 at the meeting, forming a "partnership meant to be." Youth are the future of the trail, and partnerships with more youth organizations are planned in the future. Local groups are urged to develop programs with each other. I suggest that boy scouts and other kids come to the next Trail Heritage annual meeting in August, 2008 at Great Falls with their grandparents/parents. There will be youth activities, including rafting. The kids at this meeting had a lot of fun and learned something also.
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Biddle, a well-traveled bear, visits UVA
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Brigadier General and noted Lewis and Clark historian Hal Stearns agreed to pose with Biddle, something he may now regret. We were visiting the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, touring the "Academical Village" designed by Thomas Jefferson and viewing rare maps and books in the library archives. It turned out that Biddle was also on the tour, brought by his traveling companion Vicki Correia, who works at the Travelers Rest State Park in Lolo, Montana. Biddle has been to Fort Clatsop, Fort Mandan, Lemhi Pass, Great Falls, and Three Forks Headwaters State Park. He has floated on the Missouri River, canoed on the Jefferson, and straddled the Missouri River at Lemhi Pass. He's been to St Louis, where he was on the white pirogue with Captain Lewis during the final reenactment in September, 2006. Many prominent people have had their photo taken with Biddle. On this trip he went on side trips to Washington DC, Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. We look forward to Biddle participating in our forums and hearing more about his adventures.
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Army Command and General Staff College in Lewis & Clark Center at Ft Leavenworth
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The Army Command and General Staff College has moved into new quarters at the new Lewis and Clark Center at the Fort Leavenworth Army base in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The $115 million center was dedicated on August 13th, and Captains Lewis and Clark were inducted into the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame in a ceremony attended by many family descendants. Fort Leavenworth is the oldest continuously active military post west of the Mississippi River, established in 1827. The museum and grounds are one of the destinations in Lewis and Clark Road Trips.
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Yankton festival proceeds on for 10th year despite reduced funding
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 The South Dakota Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation and the Sgt Floyd Honor Guard decided to hold the 10th annual Lewis and Clark Festival despite lack of funding from the National Park Service and the Corps of Engineers. Ponca Indians substituted for the Yankton Sioux who were unavailable. A $1200 grant from the Nebraska Humanities Council was obtained. Shown here are Nick and Dave Huebner. Dave was the coordinator for the festival. They are hoping somebody from Yankton will take it over. The event commemorates the Lewis and Clark Council with the Yankton Sioux at Calumet Bluff, held on August 30-31, 1804, exactly a year from the date that Meriwether Lewis set out in the keelboat from Pittsburgh (and 203 years from today). I have attended the festival in the past and it is a wonderful event. I learned that Dave is a potter and the owner of Dakota Stoneware. I have preferred his coffee cup for many years, but I was unaware of the Lewis and Clark connection.
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Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center in Charlottesville gets $150,000 in funding
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 Jane Lewis Henley, who is a collateral descendant of Meriwether Lewis, and past president of the Trail Heritage Foundation is shown here. Jane, a Charlottesville resident, has been active in the keelboat project at the Exploratory Center located in a park on the Rivanna River from the beginning. The keelboat was built by more than 250 area children working under the supervision of Francis Lawrence, an area lawyer. Butch Bouvier, the keelboat builder from Onawa, Iowa provided expert guidance.
This year the foundation awarded two Meritorious Achievement Awards, to Francis, and to myself. His accomplishments are astounding. The kids have learned to hammer and saw, and continue to make things at the center, housed in an old barn in the park. A fund raising campaign is underway to build a new center. The $150,000 from the state of Virginia will go towards park trails and a river ferry boat between two parks on the river. It was inspirational to see how much fun the kids at our meeting were having with the boat and the tools and building supplies.
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Corrections to the July, 2007 Newsletter:
The osage orange tree saplings from the St. Peter's Epicopal Church in Philadelphia were planted at Discovery Expedition of St Charles Wood River Camp fort located along the Wood River in Wood River, Illinois. It is just up the highway from the OTHER Wood River Camp fort located at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Hartford, Illinois. The trees are descended from stock sent back to Thomas Jefferson by Meriwether Lewis during the time of the original Wood River camp in the spring of 1804.
Powell's Rare Book Room in their store in Denver, Colorado features rare Lewis and Clark books. I inadvertently chose a link to the page where my book is sold. Eventually my book will be considered "rare and collectible" --in the meanwhile buy it, as it is a good investment as a first edition. I will sell you signed copies if you contact me.
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. Contact me if you would like to see something featured in this newsletter. If you can suggest stores which might carry the book, I would appreciate an email, and I will follow it up.
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, and are not on this list, send me an email. If you want to sell the book, visit our retail orders.
Powell's Store Rare Books Section Lewis and Clark
Columbia River Gateway Bookstore Cape Disappointment Ilwaco WA
Fort Clatsop Bookstore Astoria Oregon
Blackfeet Nation Store Browning Montana
Skamokawa Center Skamokawa Washington
Garst Museum Greenville Ohio
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 are available in the Media section of the Lewis and Clark Road Trips website. | |
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