Hi everyone,
Lewis and Clark are your ‘Burke and Wills’ of America. They are far and away the most important inland explorers in the last century. President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark up the Missouri River to explore America’s new frontier. They assembled a crew and set off on a 8,000 mile trek on May 14, 1804 from St. Louis. They reached South Dakota in the fall of 1804 and made contact with the local Native American people: the Sioux and Arikara tribes. It was a monumental effort to paddle and sail upstream and at times they had to haul the boat over sandbars. They describe the lush vegetation and wildlife including herds of buffalo. The journey took 28 months, crossing the country from East to West and returning with only one man lost to appendicitis.
Last Sunday, Kate and I had a very interesting trip to Chamberlain about 30 miles away to see the Lewis and Clark exhibits. Fantastic views from the building there.
For more info on Lewis and Clark: click on the link below.
http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/
BK
