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May 2006
Lewis and Clark
Trail Extension
HR 5053, a
bill to extend the Lewis and Clark Trail to include the eastern
legacy states, was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives
on March 30, 2006. Historians and citizens around the nation are
coming to realize the vast significance and rich history of the
eastern trail that Lewis and Clark traveled before and after their
journey to the west.
Leaving from
Washington, D.C., in 1803, Meriwether Lewis made important stops in
Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana,
Illinois, and Missouri. While the western part of the expedition was
remarkable for its numerous difficulties and discoveries, the
preceding journey from the nation’s capital to St. Louis offers
important insights about the planning, preparation, and execution of
the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Similarly, the homecoming trail
taken in 1806 from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., speaks volumes not
only about the Expedition but the country’s view of its returning
heroes as well. This includes the states of Missouri, Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The Kentucky
Lewis and Clark Commission urges individuals across the nation to
contact their congressional representatives and urge them to support
HR 5053. For instructions on how to write your representative, click
here: http://www.house.gov/writerep/.
If you have any questions regarding this effort to extend the
Lewis and Clark Trail, please contact Warren Greer by e-mail at Warren.Greer@ky.gov or by phone at (502) 564-5135 ext.
4478.
Get Those Grant
Applications In!
The deadline for the Kentucky Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
Commission grant program is May 31, 2006. The grant program is
designed to help communities and educational institutions in
Kentucky celebrate the Lewis and Clark legacy in 2006. Funding for a
multitude of exciting programming has already been approved, and
there is still time to get your application in. Help your friends
and neighbors discover the rich history of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition and Kentucky’s role in it by planning something for your
area!
For a copy of the Kentucky Lewis and Clark Commission Grant
Program, click here: http://history.ky.gov/Programs/L&C_grants_2
005-06.pdf
For a map of
Kentucky’s Lewis and Clark trails, click here: http://history.ky.gov/Programs/L&C_trail_Jan06.
pdf
200 Years Ago
on the Lewis and Clark Expedition . . .
“These
Indians are the most active horsemen I ever saw: they will gallop
their horses over precipices, that I should not think of riding over
at all. The frames of their saddles are made of wood nicely jointed,
and then covered with raw skins, which when they become dry, bind
every part tight, and keep the joints in their places. The saddles
rise very high before and behind, in the manner of the saddles of
the Spaniards, from whom they no doubt received the form; and also
obtained their breed of horses.”
- Patrick Gass, May 22,
1806
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What could be better suited to Kentucky than writing about horses
in May? The journals document the explorers’ admiration and use of
horses during the entire expedition. Many of the members of the
Corps of Discovery had an appreciation for horseflesh - breeding as
well as eating! On May 14, Gass’s fellow sergeant, John Ordway,
recorded in his journal that “we eat Several of our Stud horses as
they have been troublesome to us.” The Corps spent mid- May to
mid-June at Camp Chopunnish among the Nez Perce Indians near present
Kamiah, Idaho. The Nez Perce were well-known for their horsemanship
and the famous appaloosa breed of horse is identified with them
still today.
phone: 502.564.1792
Created by executive order and administered by the Kentucky
Historical Society, the Kentucky Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
Commission seeks to educate Kentuckians and the nation about
Kentucky's important role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition; assist
governments and organizations with their Kentucky- related Lewis and
Clark bicentennial events and projects; and perform other duties
that will highlight and commemorate Kentucky's significant
contributions to this historic achievement.
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