December 2004, Volume 4, Issue 12

THE ENDURING PLACE OF RIVERS IN OUR LIVES

A symposium in conjunction with the "Rivers of Lewis and Clark" exhibition.

January 14, 2005
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

This all-day symposium explores the spirituality, meaning and poetics of rivers. Cost to attend is $25 (includes box lunch).

Sessions:
Spiritual Dimensions of Rivers, with Dr. John Hart and Carol Craig
The Confluence of Rivers and Meaning, with Dr. Kathleen Moore and Freeman House
River Stories, featuring the North Central Washington Playback Theatre Company
Finding Poetry in Rivers, with Kim Stafford and Elizabeth Woody

Presenters:
Dr. John Hart - Professor of Christian Ethics at Boston University School of Theology and author of the Bishops Pastoral Letter on the Columbia.
Carol Craig - Journalist, Editor of Sin-Wit-Ki and recipient of the Spirit of the Salmon Award.
Dr. Kathleen Moore - Director of the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature and the Written Word at OSU, author of Riverwalking.
Freeman House - Co-founder of Mattole Restoration Council and author of Salmon Totem: Life Lessons from Another Species.
Kim Stafford - Director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis and Clark College and author of The Muses Among Us.
Elizabeth Woody - Director of the Indigenous Leadership Program at Ecotrust and author of Seven Hands.

For more information, or to register, please call (253) 798-5877.

"DISCOVERING THE RIVERS OF LEWIS AND CLARK," PRESENTED BY AMERICAN RIVERS

"Discovering the Rivers of Lewis and Clark," an exhibit ideal for the entire family, at the Washington State History Museum. The interactive exhibit examines the rich past, present and future of the rivers along the Lewis and Clark trail. The exhibit, which is presented by American Rivers, will run through January 17, 2005.

"Discovering the Rivers of Lewis & Clark" uses vivid text, spectacular photographs, maps, and art reproductions to depict the rich life of the Missouri, Yellowstone, Snake, and Columbia rivers as Lewis and Clark encountered them on their voyage nearly 200 years ago. The exhibit describes the Lewis and Clark expedition and traces the environmental history of these four rivers. The exhibit is co-sponsored by the U.S. Army, The History Channel, and The Dibner Fund.

Visitors to the exhibit can walk the length of the Lewis & Clark Trail, from St. Louis to the Pacific. They can learn about the plants and animals the explorers recorded for science, how the rivers were harnessed and changed for human use, and how communities are restoring them to health in commemoration of the expedition's bicentennial. Audio stations play voices from past and present.

Children can climb into a replica of the prow of the explorers' keelboat, surrounded by a river mural. Computers offer information about the Lewis and Clark expedition. A mini-theater donated by The History Channel shows a short video about the expedition.

American Rivers, a non-profit conservation organization, leads the nation's river movement. Learn more at www.AmericanRivers.org

The Washington State History Museum, flagship of the Washington State Historical Society, is located at 1911 Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma, just off 1-5. For more information, including hours and admission rates, please call 1-888-BE-THERE (1-888-238-4373), or visit our web site, washingtonhistory.org.

ARCHAEOLOGY AT STATION CAMP

Story from the Long View Daily News, By Tony Lystra

Archaeologists are excavating a Columbia River site believed to be an early Chinook Indian village that could yield new information about the tribe and its relationship with fur traders of European descent.

The site dates to between 1800 and 1830, said Bob Cromwell, an archaeologist at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

"We don't have very many archaeological sites or artifacts representing this early period of the fur trade," Cromwell said. "It tells us about how active the Chinook were in trading in this early period."

Scientists started preliminary excavations at the site, near the Washington side of the Astoria Bridge and behind an old Catholic church, in 2002, Cromwell said. In late November, they began pulling more artifacts from the soil.

So far, archaeologists have found glass beads, pieces from alcohol bottles consistent with the period, musket balls, fish bones and broken fragments of Chinese porcelain. Cromwell believes white men traded the items to the Chinook for fur and salmon. Compared to similar artifacts stored at Fort Vancouver, these appear to be of an older style and manufactured by different techniques, said Brian Harrison, an archaeologist working on the dig.

"That's why it's so exciting, to have two cultures coming together trading," Harrison said.

In addition, Cromwell said the archaeologists have discovered rocks believed to come from Chinook fire pits. The Chinook, he said, were known to dig pits, throw rocks into them and then light fires. As the rocks became hot, they cooked the food. The evidence shows that hundreds of meals were cooked at the site, he said.

"This is one of our first opportunities to find out what early fur trade artifacts look like on the Oregon, Washington coast, especially on the Columbia River," said Danielle Gembela, a National Parks Service archaeologist working on the dig.

A team of 12 is conducting the excavation, Cromwell said. Many of them have worked in the field for 30 years and have never seen artifacts dating from this era of the fur trade.

The artifacts will be cleaned and analyzed in an on-site laboratory, cataloged and taken to Fort Vancouver.

The dig is a joint effort between the National Parks Service, the Washington Department of Transportation and the state historical society. Officials plan to move nearby Highway 101 to the archaeological site to make way for more green space and a place for tourists to stop during the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.

Scientists, Cromwell said, are trying to "find as much as we can before they move the highway."

The Chinook site, measuring about 500 feet by 60 feet, is near Lewis and Clark's Station Camp. Archaeologists have found no artifacts from the Lewis and Clark expedition, Cromwell said.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE RECEIVES HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation presented the Chairman's Award for Federal Achievement in Historic Preservation to the National Park Service for coordinating development and display of "Corps of Discovery II: 200 Years to the Future."

National Park Service Director Fran Mainella and Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Superintendent Steve Adams accepted the award from John L. Nau, III, chairman of the ACHP at Monticello, home of President Thomas Jefferson.

"The Corps of Discovery II project explains the importance of one of the most compelling and significant stories in American history, the saga of the Lewis and Clark Expedition," Nau said. "During these bicentennial years, the National Park Service and its partners retrace the trail and, in the Tent of Many Voices, refresh the national memory about this epic. Importantly, they do so from the perspectives of the many communities and nations deeply affected and forever altered by this extraordinary journey."

Mainella said, "This is an honor for the National Park Service and Corps II staff. We also accept the award on behalf of more than two dozen federal agencies and the American Indian nations, trail states and local volunteers who help make Corps II a success in each community."

The setting for the award is particularly appropriate, said Steve Adams, Superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. It was President Jefferson who directed his personal secretary Meriwether Lewis to assemble a team to explore lands acquired from France through the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.

"Corps of Discovery II began its four-year tour of our country here on a cold morning in January 2003," Adams said. "Corps II is about halfway through its journey. We've traveled to 50 communities and about 250,000 people have come to see the exhibit and take part in programs."

Corps II provides a comprehensive overview of the 1803-06 Lewis and Clark Expedition with an audio-accompanied exhibit of artwork, maps and graphics. Rangers from the National Park Service and other Federal Interagency Partners enhance the Lewis and Clark story for visitors at a replica keelboat, a plains Indian lodge and an explorer campsite.

But Corps II really connects visitors in the "Tent of Many Voices." This 200-seat performance venue is where life along the Lewis and Clark Trail comes alive through storytelling, song and dance, panel discussions, living history presentations, lectures, film and personal interaction.

Adams said, "The Tent of Many Voices has fostered a lot of civic engagement and civil dialogue about past and current issues related to trail history."

Corps of Discovery II wrapped up the 2004 calendar year where Lewis and Clark wintered 200 years ago - North Dakota. Before resuming the trail in North Dakota next spring, Corps II will visit communities in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

In 2005, Corps II will be in communities in North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The 2006 segment of the tour begins at the Pacific Ocean and works east through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.

To learn more about the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail please visit these web sites:

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail www.nps.gov/lecl
Discovery Expedition of St. Charles www.lewisandclark.net
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial www.nps.gov/jeff
Federal Interagency Lewis and Clark Partnership www.lewisandclark200.gov
National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial www.lewisandclark200.org
Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation www.lewisandclark.org
Peter Kiewit Institute www.lewisandclarkgnet.org

Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks Dedication

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird and National Park Service director Fran Mainella at the dedication of the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks. November 12, 2004, Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Ilwaco.	U.S. Rep. Brian Baird talks with Roger Wendlick, George Drouillard interpreter, at the interpretive marker ribbon-cutting ceremony at Megler Rest Area. November 12, 2004.
Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks superintendent Chip Jenkins opened the dedication by shouting, "Park in view! O! the joy!" to cheers and applause. November 12, 2004, Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Ilwaco.	A visitor examines the interpretive markers at Megler Rest Area, which describe Clark's Dismal Nitch and the Corps of Discovery's time spent waiting out an autumn storm. November 12, 2004.
Banners at Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center show some of the units of the new Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks. November 12, 2004.	Mandi Roberts of Otak, Inc., Eileen Wirkkala, board member of Pacific County Friends of Lewis and Clark, celebrate the installation of highway interpretive markers at Megler Rest Area. Roberts is project lead on the markers. November 12, 2004.
	U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Bill Pierce, Washington State Department of Transportation, at the dedication of the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks. November 12, 2004, Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Ilwaco.

LEWIS AND CLARK CRUISE

The Washington State History Museum invites you to retrace the steps of Lewis & Clark... Set sail on the Empress of the North for a seven-night cruise. This voyage of discovery takes you back to an era of enduring elegance, when over 300 sternwheelers carried passengers in refined style along the Columbia, Snake and Willamette Rivers.

All-included shore excursions take you to explore historic Fort Clatsop, Whitman Mission and Fort Walla Walla, and the Columbia River Maritime Museums. Take a thrilling jet-boat ride through scenic Hells Canyon.

Departs April 24, 2005 from Portland, Oregon.
Prices for a category CC* - $2,723.25 per person.
(Other room categories are available)
*Category CC - first class stateroom with a veranda.
Limited space available.

For more information regarding this cruise, call Debbie Meyer- Meyer's House of Travel- (360) 943-1735.

WASHINGTON STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AWARDS PROGRAM

Call for Nominations

The Washington State Historical Society announces a call for nominations for awards to be presented at the Society's annual meeting on June 11, 2005. Up to nine awards are presented each year to recognize excellence in advancing the field of history in the state of Washington through writing, teaching, historic projects, understanding cultural diversity and for volunteerism at the Washington State History Museum and the State Capital Museum. We encourage you to help us honor the work that advances the Society's mission "to make the study of history in Washington illuminating and inspiring" by nominating candidates for the following awards: David Douglas Award, Governor's Award for Teaching History in Washington State, Peace and Friendship Awards, and the Robert Gray Medal.

For a description of the awards and information on the nomination process, please visit http://www.washingtonhistory.org/wshs/awards.htm.

Contact:
Marie DeLong
1911 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402-3109
Phone 253-798-5901
Fax 253-272-9518
Email: mdelong@wshs.wa.gov

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ANNOUNCES 2005 CHALLENGE COST SHARE PROGRAM FOR THE LEWIS AND CLARK TRAIL

The National Park Service announces the 2005 Challenge Cost Share program for the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, pending enactment of Congressional appropriations for the US Department of Interior. The program will distribute matching funds to non-federal organizations for projects that educate the public about the Lewis and Clark story and preserve the resources of the National Historic Trail, including projects that commemorate the bicentennial of the historic expedition.

"This year we are looking for projects that will provide a lasting legacy of education and interpretation on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail for many years following the bicentennial" said Trail Manager Richard Williams. "However, we also expect a number of organizations will apply for funds to assist in production of bicentennial events and activities in 2005 and 2006" Williams said.

Local communities, states and non profit organizations are encouraged to apply for the Lewis and Clark Challenge Cost Share funds. Application packets and more information may be obtained at the Internet Web site www.nps.gov/lecl or from Challenge Cost Share Program Coordinator Midori Raymore, 402-661-1826, toll free 888-237-3252, or midori_raymore@nps.gov.

On-line applications must be submitted by January 14, 2005.

The Challenge Cost Share Program for the National Park Service was first authorized by Congress in 1995. Each year Congress appropriates funds for this program for use on National Scenic and Historic Trails, including the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

The National Park Service is sponsoring grant-writing workshops on Monday, November 8, 9am- 12pm, at the Howard House in Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, Washington, and Wednesday, November 3, 9am- 1pm, at the United Way Building at 401 North Young St., Kennewick, Washington (509-783-4102 for directions). These workshops will provide an opportunity for applicants to review the elements of a well-written and organized proposal including project criteria. Also covered will be Program changes and requirements for funded projects. Please contact Arlene Johnson at 360-906-7119 or Midori Raymore at 888-237-3252 x 1826 for more information about the workshop.

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

By Sharon Hultman, WSHS Digital Projects Manager

AMERICAN JOURNEYS
Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement: A Digital Library and Learning Center

Purporting to contain "more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American Exploration," American Journeys is a wonderfully comprehensive digital resource, and a great credit to its builder, the Wisconsin Historical Society. Students of the Lewis and Clark Expedition will find this site to be a veritable treasure trove of more than 3,000 pages of original manuscripts, books, and illustrations.

It's a sophisticated site, using sophisticated technology, so before you start digging deep, be sure to check out the minimum requirements. If you haven't updated your browser in a while, you could experience some problems. This site is definitely worth the effort of getting the latest browser version.

You can click directly from the home page to the Lewis and Clark collection, where you'll be presented with a numbered list of available documents. The documents range from a two page manuscript from Thomas Jefferson, to the original Lewis and Clark journals, as edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and you are treated to the prospect of viewing sixty-three Karl Bodmer engravings. This is not quite as easy to do as it might seem, as the engravings are scattered throughout the journals, but following the directions carefully will yield results. [Hint: Once into the search results, click only on the pages that have (illustration) in the page name.]

During the summer months, the Wisconsin Historical Society blogged the diary of Sgt. Floyd, bringing up a new section each day from May 14 to August 18. Floyd's diary can be viewed at the American Journeys site, but the entries are a bit easier to access at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/diary/cat_sgt_charles_floyd_1804.asp.

There are a number of search/browse functions built into the site, but the most satisfying of them is the Advanced Search. On this page, you can enter keywords to search all fields of the database, or the full text of documents. You can also browse the collection by topic, or by bibliographic data such as author or publisher. If you have plenty of time to browse, click the Show ALL Documents button at the bottom of the page to get a listing of all the digitized documents on the site. For those a bit short on time, try the Highlights section to see a chronological listing of historical events that can be used as a jumping off point to search through the collections.

Educators will be happy to note that there is a section called Resources for Teachers. This is a thorough guide for using the collections in the classroom, with suggestions for choosing a topic, how to deal with sensitive content, interpretation, evaluation, and lesson plans. There is a downloadable 11mb, 76-page Teacher Sourcebook in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. The sourcebook is a "must-have" item for the classroom, as it contains all the information on the site, and is beautifully illustrated to boot.

Both students and lifelong learners will find loads of value at American Journeys, so start your trip soon. You'll be on the road for a while!

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.