Student shares her experience on the Lewis and Clark Trail with the NMSU Corps of Discovery

After two weeks of classroom lectures at the Carlsbad branch of NMSU, we left New Mexico on Friday, June 11, 2004, to rendezvous with Professor Doug Dinwiddie the rest of our classmates in Gothenburg, Nebraska. From there, we would go on to our first stop on the actual Lewis and Clark Trail at Council Bluffs, Iowa. I traveled with my husband, David, and my mother, Ann Morgan, in a Dodge Ram 2500 diesel truck and a 21-foot 5th-wheel travel trailer. Much better accommodations than Lewis and Clark had available to them!

After traveling through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and into Nebraska, we arrived at Gothenburg on June 13th and met up with our party. On the morning of June 14th we departed for Council Bluffs and visited the Western Trails Center. This was where the Mormon and Oregon trails began, as well as where Lewis and Clark first encountered Indians in 1804. From Council Bluffs we proceeded on to the Lewis and Clark State Park to view a replica of the keelboat and two pirogues used by the expedition. One of the park employees discovered who we were and arranged for us to ride on and steer the keelboat. We also talked with the man who actually built it. This keelboat is the one featured in the National Geographic video on Lewis and Clark.. What a thrill!

After our keelboat ride, we visited the monument at Sgt. Charles Floyd’s gravesite. Floyd was the only member of the expedition to die, and was buried near present-day Sioux City, Iowa. On June 15th we visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in North Sioux City, one of my favorite sites, then on to Spirit Mound near Vermillion, South Dakota, and ended the day at the Lewis and Clark Recreation Area in Yankton, South Dakota. This was a gorgeous place to camp.

On June 16th we went to Pierre, South Dakota, and toured the capitol. We also visited the South Dakota Cultural Center and camped at Farm Island Recreation Area. There, some of us walked a nature trail near where Lewis and Clark had a contentious meeting with the Teton Sioux, who did not want to allow the Corps of Discovery to pass their villages without surrendering more presents. On the 17th we made a side trip to Mount Rushmore and attended the evening lighting program. This was probably the most moving experience of the entire trip. We returned to the Lewis and Clark Trail on June 18th, drove through Deadwood, and on to Fort Mandan, where Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1804-05. A visit to a replica of the fort was on the agenda, as well as a visit to a Hidatsa village across the river. Sacagawea gave birth to Jean Baptiste (Pomp) at Fort Mandan in February 1805. The boy accompanied the Corps of Discovery on the remainder of its journey.

On June 19th we visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the Badlands of western North Dakota, then Fort Union Trading Post and Fort Buford near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers.. On June 20th we visited Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River and the interpretive center nearby. Lots of dinosaur fossils are found near there. We arrived at Point Decision at the confluence of the Missouri and Marias rivers (where Lewis and Clark had to decide which river was the Missouri) on June 21st, and then went on to Great Falls, Montana, where Lewis and Clark made a very arduous portage. We saw the portion of the original falls that is still in existence (much of the original falls is now covered by a reservoir), as well as the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center. This center was one of the better sites, also.

On June 22nd, we made one of our most enjoyable tours, the Gates of the Mountains. We rode down the Missouri River on a tourboat and saw abundant wildlife such as bighorn sheep, bald eagles and ospreys. June 23rd found us at Headwaters State Park, where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers join to form the Missouri. We then visited Virginia City and Beaverhead Rock, the landmark first recognized by Sacagawea. We also visited Camp Fortunate at Clark Reservoir on the Beaverhead River, where Lewis and Clark first met with the Shoshone and their chief, Cameawaite, who was Sacagawea’s brother. We ended the day by driving up Lemhi Pass and standing astride the spring that is the source of the Beaverhead River just at sunset. What a view!

On June 24th, we visited Big Hole National Battlefield in Nez Perce National Historical Park and Travelers’ Rest State Park in Lolo, Montana. Travelers’ Rest is the only Lewis and Clark site with actual archaeological evidence of their encampment. We crossed Lolo Pass on June 25th, where Lewis and Clark made their perilous crossing in deep snow, aided by the horses obtained from the Shoshone. We then camped near Harpster, Idaho, and floated down the Clearwater River on inner tubes. On June 26th we finally reached the Columbia River and traveled along it to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles, Oregon, another excellent place to view exhibits of Lewis and Clark supplies, tools and weapons. We ended the day at Cascade Locks, Oregon.

June 27th was a very eventful day. We rode on the Columbia River Sternwheeler, then hiked the trail above Horsetail Falls. There are numerous waterfalls and hiking trails in this beautiful part of Oregon. On June 28th we visited Ft. Vancouver, Washington; and Cape Disappointment near Ilwaco, Washington, home of yet another Lewis and Clark interpretive center. This one will be finished next year. We hiked to the Cape Disappointment lighthouse, and what a view of the Pacific coast! We camped in Astoria, Oregon, and had a potluck dinner for our last evening together.

On June 29th, our last day, we visited Fort Clatsop, Oregon, where the Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1805-06. We visited the replica of the fort, named for the Clatsop Indians, skilled fishermen and boatmen who assisted the Corps of Discovery that wet, miserable winter. The following spring, the Corps of Discovery returned to Missouri and the end of their great expedition. On June 29, 2004, almost 200 years later, the NMSU Corps of Discovery disbanded and made our way, via various routes, back to our homes in New Mexico.

As a student, I can truly say this was the educational opportunity of a lifetime. As an educator, I hope I can use the knowledge gained by this experience to give my students a greater appreciation of our great heritage as Americans.

Rodgers teaches 4th grade at Monterrey Elementary School in Carlsbad.