Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

 Yesterday we went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.   This was much more interesting than I thought it would be.  

In our travels we have seen lots of signs regarding Lewis and Clark trails and expedition, but mostly they were trails or placards stating “they were here” kind of thing.  This center gave you the big picture of their expedition.  

We watched a movie about the expedition by Ken Burns.  Then a presentation about their vessels.  Then followed up with a video about the medication of the expedition.  We then walked through the museum itself.  I only have one picture, which is a replica of them portaging the boat up one of the many hills in the Great Falls, MT area.   The reason Great Falls was so significant in their journey is because there are 5 water falls in Great Falls, so they could not continue their journey on water, they had to take it on land.  Once they were past the 5 falls, they could go back in the Missouri and continue.  

I think the best way to provide the info is just a list of fun facts/history lesson:

The expedition was called the Discovery Corps and was ordered by Thomas Jefferson to find a waterway to the Pacific after the Louisiana Purchase.  Finding a waterway failed, but they did make it to the Pacific.

The Native Americans were overall trusting and helped them and gave them guidance.  Two particular Native American women were vital, one as their “interpreter” and the other belonged to a tribe that wanted to kill the people in the expedition, but she convinced them not to because white men in the past had saved her.  There, of course, is always one outlier, so there was one tribe that stole all of their horses, as stealing a horse was considered braver than killing someone. 

Five different types of boats were used on the expedition - keel, pirogues, dugout canoes, coastal canoes and bull boats.  There was a display that let you see how many miles a day you would be able to pull the boat against the current as this was something they had to do on a somewhat regular basis.   Dave got 5 miles, I got 3.  However, together we got it up to 10.

There was a 6th type of boat, Lewis’ iron boat frame.  It was test built in Harpers Ferry using iron, pine and hides.  It worked, so they took the iron frame pieces figuring they could put it together when needed using the materials at that location. However, when they went to use it, there was no pine.  The trees that were available did not float.  A good idea gone wrong because they had no idea about the new land.

Trying to use sails on the water did not work.  However, the sails were used on land in the plains very successfully due to the constant breeze.

Despite their lack of medical knowledge, as then it was based on logic and philosophy more than science, only 1 person died on the expedition.  They said they believe it was appendicitis and he wouldn’t have survived even if he were in big cities of the time like NY or Philly.  That really is an amazing statistic.

The majority of the ailments were treated with toxic chemicals and blood letting.  One of the favorite treatments was Peruvian Bark.  They had no idea what the causes were or how systems worked, so they only treated symptoms.  The best example I thought was the treatment for heat exhaustion - blood letting.  They thought it worked because they would pass out due to the lack of blood, but they thought it worked cause they seemed relaxed.  Apparently one other purpose of the expedition was to find out plant cures from the Native Americans.

They used grizzly bear fat to repel mosquitos.  

One of the museum volunteers told us about one of the criteria to be on the expedition was you had to have at least 4 teeth and 2 that touched.  This was so that they could bite off the top of the gun powder packet.  The sad thing about it is only 50% of the men met this qualification.

There was one point when Clark was laid up with an injury, so Lewis went and scouted the way.  When Lewis got to a fork in the river, he chose the way and left a note on a log for Clark.  However, a beaver took the log before Clark got there so he went the wrong way and didn’t realize it for 9 miles.  Who knew a beaver could be so relevant.

Well, enough history lesson for today.  However, if you are ever in Great Falls, MT I highly recommend you check out the interpretive center.