January 2005, Volume 5, Issue 1

LEWIS AND CLARK TRAIL HERITAGE FOUNDATION MONETARY GRANTS

The purpose of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation's annual grant program is to "stimulate and increase public knowledge" about the Corps of Discovery. For over 20 years, the Foundation has used its modest grant program to support a variety of projects, including scholarly research and publication, musical and theatrical productions, museum exhibits, community events and youth activities that have indeed stimulated and increased the public's knowledge about the stories of the Corps of Discovery.

The grants are funded through the Foundation's fund-raising activities, such as membership dues, donations and the sale of merchandise, as well as the Bob Shattuck Fund. In recent years, the grants have varied from $200 to $1,000.

Based on the original goals and objects of the Monetary Grants Committee, the Committee continues to give preference, in this order, to grant applications for:

• scholarly research and publication
• research and development of interpretive signage [text, illustrations]
• construction or restoration projects
• construction and installation of interpretive signage
• youth activities
• creative or performing arts projects.

For additional information and applications, interested parties should contact the Foundation's web site at www.lewisandclark.org or the Foundation's office at:
Box 3434
Great Falls, MT 59403
1.888.701.3434

The monetary grants application deadline is March 15, 2005. Six copies of the grant applications and supporting documents should be mailed to:
Barb Kubik, Chair
Monetary Grants Committee
10808 NE 27th Ct.
Vancouver, WA 98686

CONFLUENCE PROJECT IN THE SCHOOLS - REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Confluence Project Background

The Confluence Project features groundbreaking interpretive artwork by Maya Lin, who is best known as the creator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and who has been hailed by the Seattle Times as "one of the most important artist/architects of her generation…a brilliant thinker and avid environmentalist who weaves powerful emotion through her works." Lin's installations will be located in Washington and Oregon, from the Idaho border to the Pacific Ocean, along key confluence's of the Columbia River Basin. The multidisciplinary project draws upon place and art to integrate environmental concerns and history with an awareness of the tremendous changes the journey of Lewis and Clark brought to Native Americans and their homelands. The Confluence Project reflects upon the past to envision a future in which natural and cultural resources are preserved and sustained.

Confluence Project Education Program

The Confluence Project is creating education and public programs that serve community needs and advance the project beyond the Maya Lin public artworks at each site. The goal is to connect each Confluence Project site with its respective community, link all 7 sites in a way that illuminates their interrelationship, and use the arts as a catalyst to preserve and sustain our natural and cultural resources.

• Confluence Project Washington Sites
• Cape Disappointment State Park, Ilwaco
• Frenchman's Bar County Park, Vancouver
• Vancouver National Historic Reserve, Vancouver
• Sacajawea State Park, Pasco
• Chief Timothy Park, Clarkston
• Sandy River Delta, Troutdale Oregon
• The Dalles, Oregon

Request for Proposal: Confluence Project in the Schools

The Confluence Project is seeking proposals from schools wishing to participate in a unique model program. Confluence Project in the Schools will support up to 24 total projects throughout the 7 Confluence Project Washington and Oregon site communities along the Lewis and Clark Trail. Students will receive the same assignment that was given to Maya Lin, namely to look at the land from both a Native American and Lewis and Clark perspective and create a legacy artwork that inspires future preservation of our natural and cultural resources. The work should consider how Lewis and Clark set change in motion, how each place has evolved over the last 200 years and how it may change in the next 200 years.

Proposals are due March 18, 2005.

For questions regarding this proposal, please contact:
Janet L. Gallimore
Director of Education and Community Engagement
Vancouver, WA
360-693-0123
Download Adobe PDF attachment at:
Confluence Project in the Schools - Request for Proposals

STATE PARKS LAUNCHES NEW LEWIS AND CLARK WEBPAGE

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is pleased to announce a new edition to their web page. The visitor can learn about the Expedition history at each of our state parks along the trail and there are links to our Lewis & Clark interpretive centers, general information about the parks, places to stay (cabins, houses, and yurts) in the parks along the route. To access this exciting new feature, please click on the link below.

WE WANT REACTIONS TO LEWIS AND CLARK "CORPS OF DISCOVERY"

Indian people who are descendants of any of the Indian nations who live in the present day states through which the Lewis and Clark "Corps of Discovery" traveled back in 1804 to 1806 are invited to contact Spirit Talk Press, completely and absolutely owned by Indians, to describe the reactions of Indian people to what is the legacy of the "Corps of Discovery" and a reaction to what Lewis and Clark wrote in their journals.

The Press is especially interested in events and happenings that took place but have never been published before. Stories should not exceed 1,000 words and are written from a traditional Indian perspective.

April 1st, 2004, is the deadline to submit offerings by e-mail. Transcript submissions should include return postage if you want your material returned. Persons whose writing has been accepted for publication will be paid an amount yet to be determined.

For further information Contact:

Long Standing Bear Chief
Spirit Talk Press
P.O. Box 477
East Glacier, In the Blackfoot Nation
59434-0477
blkfoot@3rivers.net

CAPTAINS LEWIS & CLARK IN THE PRESIDENT'S INAUGURAL PARADE

Members of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, portraying important members of the Expedition, rode on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers float in the President Bush's Inaugural Parade on January 20th.

Shown in the picture above are Amy Mossett from North Dakota as Sacagawea, Craig Rockwell from Washington State as Cpt. Clark, Scott Mandrell from Missouri as Cpt. Lewis, Steve Alexander from Michigan as General George Armstrong Custer, Dr. Ron His Horse Is Thunder from North Dakota as Sitting Bull (Ron is the president of Sitting Bull College and is a direct descendent of Sitting Bull), and Ray Anderson from Arizona as Theodore Roosevelt.

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

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

By Sharon Hultman, WSHS Digital Projects Manager

Lewis and Clark
on Teachers Scholastic

Scholastic, an international publisher of children’s books and classroom magazines, has built a useful educational site celebrating the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.  The site is very student-friendly and fun to use, while also providing a considerable number of teaching tools.

The home page features a map displaying four key points along the trail – Monticello, St. Louis, Fort Mandan and Fort Clatsop.  Click on the Monticello picture to begin the journey and learn about President Thomas Jefferson, the Louisiana Purchase, and the necessary preparations for such a long, arduous trip.  Click at the other end of the map, Clatsop, Oregon, for information about Lewis and Clark as they traveled along the Columbia River. In addition to historical facts and journal entries, each section brings the past into the present in "The Trail Today."

Students are invited to "Join the Expedition" by creating a specimen box, testing their packing smarts, and by donning a news reporter’s hat to describe the events of 1803, 1804 or 1805. Beyond the activities, there are several other interactive games and exercises, such as Mapman, a quick question/answer game, and the Lewis & Clark Cyberhunt, sending students out onto the web to locate answers to more complex questions.

Teachers will enjoy the site for the Online Activity Teacher’s Guide that will make planning, teaching and evaluating lessons easy. Instructions for each lesson plan include grade appropriate suggestions for setting up activities, stimulating interest in background knowledge, and related book lists. A section titled "Email from Lewis and Clark" provides edited journal excerpts that focus on each month of the trek.  All lessons purportedly meet National Standards.

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.