Wednesday, September 19, 2018
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| Tuesday, August 14, 2018 |
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| Wednesday, September 19, 2018 |
As of today, Wednesday, September 19, 2018 we've completed the Lewis and Clark Trail! We began the Trail on Tuesday, August 14, 2018 and ended today. We actually completed the Eastern Legacy Trail of Meriwether Lewis (from Philadelphia,PA to Camp Wood DuBois, IL) and the Lewis and Clark Trail of the Corps of Discovery (from St. Charles to Fort Clatsop, WA). We celebrated with a home cooked meal in the white box, real comfort food: meatballs, potatoes and broccoli!
DATES - Tuesday, August 12 to Wednesday, September 19, 2018 MILES DRIVEN - 6,596 miles from Lackawaxen, PA to Fort Clatsop, OR
MOUNTAIN RANGES - Crossed six (6) major US Ranges
STATES - Crossed 22 US states
RIVERS - Crossed 40 major US Rivers
CAMPGROUNDS - camped in 20 separate campgrounds
BIRDS - 92 separate species including 4 unidentified/unconfirmed. 8 Lifers!
DIGITAL PICTURES - 2,971 pictures
- A TRULY OUTSTANDING TRIP!
- IT WAS A GIFT, A GOAL FULFILLED AND AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME FOR BOTH OF US.
- WE CAN'T BE THANKFUL ENOUGH.
The only additional Lewis and Clark Trail visit we need to make is to Hohenwald, TN where Meriwether Lewis is buried. This would truly complete the trip since we've already seen Clark's grave in St. Louis.
On October 12, 1809, Lewis was on his way to Washington, DC, on the perilous Natchez Trace, at the Grinders Stand Inn. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered? Believe it or not, even today, historians can argue both ways, which we heard on the Trail. And, interestingly, we read today that Lewis' ancestors are petitioning to have his remains exhumed and forensically examined.
He was only 35 years old, Governor of the Louisiana Territory and returned in 1806 with William Clark and the Corps as heroes (probably just like NASA Apollo Astronauts returning from the moon). He was always a heavy drinker (as were many Virginia gentry of the age), was in debt for paying out-of-pocket expenses for the Corps, and was anticipating a frosty reception from the US Congress about "over spending" during the 2.5 years across the continent. And finally, he was probably suffering from malaria.
He was such an incredible young man, a great US Army officer, President Jefferson's trusted adviser and personal Secretary, an outstanding outdoors man and leader. He had an insatiable curiosity, he carried out his Orders to the letter and with William Clark, together, they represent possibly the best leadership team in world history.
Today's Plans
We left camp at 9:00am awaking to a cool 48 degrees. We planned to visit Cape Disappointment (named by a British fur trader in 1788), Ilwaco, WA , then back over the Astoria/Megler Bridge (4 miles long over the Columbia River) to Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR, to visit the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park. The visit to Fort Clatsop, OR would end our Lewis and Clark Trail Adventure.
Dismal Nitch, WA
We drove first to Dismal Nitch in Washington on Rt 101. This was where the Corps was pinned down on the rocky shore and experienced 9 days of torrential rain, high winds, extreme high tides and little food. Clark described their situation here as "dangerous."
From there we drove past old Fort Columbia and Station Camp where L&C set up camp for 9 days before deciding to make permanent winter camp in Oregon. It was here in November 1805, at the mouth of the Columbia River, the 33 + Sagajawea discussed and voted to determine where to winter. Here at Station Camp, WA the first Black man voted (Clark's slave York) and the first woman voted (Sagagawea) in US history.
Cape Disappointment, Ilwaco, WA
It is also amazing that Fort Canby looked surprisingly similar to Fort Stevens, which of course, is exactly the way it was. For decades, Fort Canby, WA protected the WA, northern entrance to the Columbia River and Fort Stevens, OR protected the southern River entrance. The L&C Interpretive Center is literally built into the foundation of Ft. Canby.
NOTE: Our KOA campground is literally next door to a large Northwest Territorial US Coast Guard base and so we've heard and seen many white and orange helicopters roaring overhead and hovering low on the river yesterday and today.
This truly was the end!
Again, we drove over the Astoria /Megler bridge, and arrived at Ft. Clatsop to find a full parking lot. It's here that the Corps of Discovery wintered in 1805-1806 for 4 months and in March 1806, left for St. Louis eastward. It was also here that another Native Indian tribe, the Clatsops, were very helpful and supportive of the Corps on both sides of the River. While driving hard bargains, they and the Chinook Indians supplied the Corps with fish, dog. hunted Elk with the boys and gave advice about canoe building and travel.
Once again, we viewed two very good films including "A Clatsop Winter Story" taught from the viewpoint of the Native Americans. The second film was about the entire L&C trip. Wilma and I were poking each other with elbows saying, "we were there" and "we saw that" and "remember that!" all throughout. Wow, did we experience a lot of the L&C Trail!
Gass was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1771 and was promoted to Sergeant when Charles Floyd died in 1804 just 3 months up the Missouri River.
Gass was one of the three Sergeants and is buried in Wellsburg, WA; I can kick myself for not driving the extra 25 miles or so to visit his grave when we drove nearby. His journals were published in 1807, 7 years before Lewis and Clark's journals were. He was 98 years old when he died.
There is his metal flask and the hand carved wooden razor box made for Gass by Sagajawea. The 1st edition of his Journals are here as well as the family Bible and family Hymnal. Fantastic!
Day's End
At 3:00 we were done at Fort Clatsop, shopped for some groceries, arriving back to camp at 3:45pm. We celebrated with our comfort food of meatballs, potatoes, broccoli to celebrate and spoke to Cheryl Lynn about plans for the next few days.
The Bogertman Blog Onward and Forward
From now on, our posts may be infrequent but we will be posting. We plan to spend about a week with daughter Cheryl who lives in Seattle, WA and teaches 3rd grade at Shoreline Christian School in Shoreline, WA.
After that we want to visit Wilma's twin, Dirk/Sharon Postma in Canon City, CO, and possibly visit some National Parks (Bryce, Zion, Arches) along the southern, eastern route home.
I would like to satisfy my desire to visit a few Civil War battlefields such as Appomattox, Fredericksburg and Antietam,
Lewis and Clark Resources Used:
In addition to the Trail Maps and Interpretive Center Maps we received along our journey at National Park Service or Bureau of Land Management as well as State Historical Site locations, we used the following books and web sites to plan our initial trip as well as make our daily and weekly travel plans.
Books
1. Travelling the Lewis
and Clark Trail, 4th Edition, by Julie Fanselow, Falcon Guides,
Morris Book Publishing, LLC, 2003, 292 pages.
2. National Geographic
Guide to the Lewis and Clark Trail, by Thomas Schmidt, Foreword by Stephen E.
Ambrose, National Geographic, Washington DC, 1998, 192 pages
3. The Lewis and Clark
Trail: Fodor’s Travel Historic America, Fodor’s 1st edition,
Fodor’s Travel Publications, 2004, Random House Publications, 300 pages
4. The Lewis and Clark
Trail: Yesterday and Today, by William Hill, Canton Press, Caldwell, ID, 2004, 288
pages
5. Along the Trail with
Lewis and Clark, 2nd Edition: Historical Highlights, Color Maps,
Where to Stay and What to Do, by Barbara Fifer and Vicky Soderberg with
maps by Joseph Mussulman, Montana Magazine, Far Country Press Helena, MT, 2001,
216 pages
Web Sites
1. National Park Service www.nps.gov (Lewis and Clark National
Historic Trail) including Lewis and Clark NHT Visitor Centers and Museums
2. Good Sam Club/Trip
Planner – www.goodsam.com/trip-planner
3. Discovering Lewis and
Clark – www.lewis-clark.org
4. Lewis and Clark Trail –
www.lewisandclarktrail.com
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