April 2005, Volume 5, Issue 3

NPS CHALLENGE COST SHARE GRANTS ANNOUNCED

A total of eight projects in Washington state have received funding through the National Park Service Challenge Cost Share granting program.

• $5,000 Viewfinders at Granite Lake Park, Clarkston
• $5,000 Lewis & Clark Fortnight, Va "Down the Great Columbia," Tri-Cities
• $5,000 Lewis &Clark in Walla Walla County
• $7,000 Northwest Discovery Water Trail website, Washington Water Trails Association
• $15,000 Chinook Commemoration Festival
• $80,000 Cathlapotle Plankhouse Project Phase III, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
• $85,000 Captain William Clark Park at Cottonwood Beach, Washougal

NATIONAL LEWIS AND CLARK TALENT DATABASE NOW ONLINE

Event and program coordinators looking for Lewis and Clark-related speakers, musicians, dance groups, performers, living history interpreters, and even puppeteers can search the Washington State Historical Society's new online Lewis and Clark Talent Database. Each entry includes detailed program descriptions, costs, and contact information. Nearly 200 entries from across the United States are listed in this handy new feature at http://69.13.172.222/LCTalent/programSearch.asp. Or, go to washingtonhistory.org, click on "Lewis and Clark," then "Talent Database." To get the broadest search results, leave all fields blanks and click "Search."

To get your program entered in the database, email Lauren Danner, Assistant Bicentennial Coordinator, at Ldanner@wshs.wa.gov.

COMMEMORATE LEWIS AND CLARK BICENTENNIAL WITH ARTS AND TRAILS PROJECT

Fisher poetry, storytelling and shadow puppet performances kick off the 2005 Arts and Trails Project. The 2005 series, presented jointly by Northwest Folklife of Seattle and Washington State Parks' Folk and Traditional Arts in the Parks Program, features 24 events held at Washington state parks along the Lewis and Clark Trail.

Additional events are planned from April through September and feature Chinese rod puppets, Finnish music and dance, Native American basket making and music of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. All events are free with the $5 daily parking fee. These and other Lewis and Clark events are part of an online calendar of events at www.parks.wa.gov/lewisandclark.

Support for the 2005 Arts and Trails Project was provided by the Washington State Arts Commission, a regional initiative co-sponsored by the Idaho and Oregon state arts commissions, the Rivers & Trails Program of the National Park Service and the National Endowment for the Arts. Cultural events in parks are an important aspect of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission's Centennial 2013 Plan, which is focused on creating new services and facilities in preparation of the park system's 100th birthday and a second century of state parks.

The following link provides a calendar of events for the 2005 Arts and Trails Project.

DESTINATION: THE PACIFIC GUIDEBOOK & JOURNAL

Destination: The Pacific Guidebook and Journal which covers the sites at the mouth of the Columbia River from Long Beach, WA to Cannon Beach, OR. This guidebook is user-friendly, and directs visitors to all 16 sites with photos and quotes from the journals; also included are 8 color plates of the area and other historical information on museums and interpretive centers located in WA and OR. The guidebook is all locally produced, photographed and published. Destination: The Pacific Guidebook has been endorsed by the National Council for Lewis & Clark Bicentennial (we are a licensed product) and endorsed by Destination The Pacific, a WA-OR organization. The Guidebook is available at the following places:

• Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, WA
• Long Beach Visitor's Center, WA
• Fort Clatsop National Memorial, OR
• Columbia River Maritime Museum, OR
• Fort Stevens State Park, OR
• Clatsop County Historical Society, OR

The book is also available at several local bookstores. Other groups wishing to carry the guidebooks should contact us through the website below.

For more info please see the link below, and thanks for your consideration of this valuable guide to the Signature Event, Destination: The Pacific.

Join the Journey!
Sample pages of Destination: The Pacific Guidebook & Journal
go to: www.andrewecier.com
and click on Lewis & Clark

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

By Sharon Hultman, WSHS Digital Projects Manager

Lewis and Clark's Journey through Washington State

October-November 1805 and March-May 1806

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has built a website dedicated to Lewis and Clark's Journey through Washington state, encouraging visitors to explore the Northwest by retracing the trail of the Expedition. The site is navigated by using the Main Menu located at the right side of the home page.

Follow in Their Footsteps begins in the homelands of the Nez Perce, where the Clearwater and Snake rivers come together. This section takes the user through the story of the Expedition as they traveled through what would become Washington State. Follow in Their Footsteps features a map with significant points along the Snake, Clearwater and Columbia rivers highlighted to guide the user through the trip.

Visit State Parks Along the Way focuses on attracting visitors to spend the night in one of the places where the Corps of Discovery rested 200 years ago, albeit it in somewhat better quarters than the Corps enjoyed. Bicentennial Events and Activities keeps the traveler informed of special events along the trail.

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, located at Cape Disappointment State Park has a page of its own, advising the public of the hours, admission rates, camping, hiking and other recreational opportunities. A list of Featured Creatures—including skunks, weasels, heron, osprey, sturgeon, and squid—tells potential visitors what's inside the Center.

Sacajawea State Park and Interpretive Center—named for the Shoshone woman who journeyed with the Corps of Discovery—is also featured on the site. The Jay Perry Room of Indian Artifacts contains an outstanding collection of stone and bone tools from the Columbia Basin Plateau dating back 200 to 12,000 years.

The history of Lewis & Clark in Washington is competently related in the Follow in Their Footsteps portion of the website, with the other sections offering up points of fun and interest along the way. One can even purchase commemorative postage stamps and special envelopes by which to remember the Washington Lewis & Clark Trail.

EVENTS LISTING

We are now listing bicentennial events and promotions in a large, searchable database, with several different search criteria, freeing up space in the electronic newsletter for more news-related items. If you would like to have an event or promotion listed in this new database, please direct all information to Mark Vessey at mvessey@wshs.wa.gov and he will post the listing.

To access this new feature, visit our website at www.washingtonhistory.org/lewisandclark and click the Bicentennial Events Calendar Database at the top of the page —or click on the link below.

PLEASE LOOK for additional information and updates on Bicentennial planning activities and projects in next month's e-newsletter.

ALSO - if you have articles or news-worthy information that you would like to contribute to this e-newsletter or to Washington's quarterly bicentennial newsletter, please contact Mark Vessey at 360.586.0219 or mvessey@wshs.wa.gov.

The Washington State Historical Society, lead agency of the state's Agency Assistance Team (AAT) for bicentennial planning, will send this newsletter via e-mail on a monthly basis to provide updates on events, projects, and activities going on around the state in preparation for the commemoration.

Your name is in the state's Lewis and Clark Trail database as someone who has expressed interest in the bicentennial. If you do not want to continue to receive this newsletter and/or other bicentennial communications, reply to this e-mail or contact Mark Vessey at the Heritage Resource Center 360.586.0219.