CHANGED LIVES: Lewis and Clark
Meet the West
“Navigating Our Passages”
Thursdays
April 1, 15, 22 and 29, 2004 7:00 p.m.
Schwertley
Hall - St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
215 N. 13th Street, Ft. Calhoun, NE
OPEN
TO THE PUBLIC – NO ADMISSION FEE
Thursday,
April 1, 2004 7:00
p.m.
By Water or By Land – the Myth, the Men and the Manuscripts
Anne
Mallinson and Nancy Lewis –
Historians and Educators
Equipment for the Lewis and Clark Expedition included the
latest scientific innovations of the time period.
Charged with mapping the
Louisiana Purchase and points beyond, the
expedition also searched for a northwest passage to the
Pacific Ocean. The group
traversed rivers, and mountains to successfully complete
what has come to be known as the great American adventure.
In presenting the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition,
Nancy Lewis and Anne Mallinson
explain the logistics of the journey and the precedent that
Congress set in funding exploration. Audience participation
is encouraged as members read aloud diary quotes and handle
artifacts typical of the time period. A question/answer
session follows the program. Handouts with historical
background and a bibliography are available.
Thursday,
April 15, 2004
7:00 p.m.
“Wohtohtana
hedan Myut
achi machin
Xanje akipa”
(Otoe and Missouria Meet Big
Knives)
Matthew “Sitting Bear” Jones –
Lecturer, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
This
program examines the first and second meetings that Lewis
and Clark held with the Otoe-Missouria
nation. Through the Otoe-Missouria
nation's oral history this program examines the perceptions
they had of these new
wan^sige
ska (white people).
It also looks at the historical repercussions that the Otoe-Missouria
experienced after this first contact and what the tribe
thinks about this historical meeting today.
Thursday,
April 22, 2004
7:00 p.m.
Fiddle & Dance Music of the Lewis and
Clark Era
Howard Marshall – Professor
Emeritus – Art History & Archeology – University of
Missouri, Columbia
This is a
presentation of traditional instrumental music of the
exploration and early European settlement of the American
West. By 1804 the violin was on its way to becoming the most
familiar bowed instrument in North American communities
grounded in traditions from Britain and Europe. Violins came
West in mover wagons and in immigrant trunks (and later were
bought from mail order catalogs). Fiddle music crosses all
social and economic boundaries and fiddling and dancing
continue to be staples of everyday life.
Two members of the Corps of Discovery,
Peter Cruzatte and George
Gibson, played violin. Labors of the journey were
relieved at the end of the day by fiddle music and dancing
for entertainment and to boost morale, and also for what we
call fiddle diplomacy in sensitive meetings with Indian
tribal groups.
This program samples tunes handed down through the
generations. Many are enjoyed today across the U.S. and
Canada and remain ironclad tunes in the fiddle repertory.
Thursday,
April 29, 2004
7:00 p.m.
The Medicines of Lewis and Clark
Bev Hinds – Lecturer – Board
Member, Lewis & Clark Heritage Trail Foundation
The
Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806 that took
approximately 28 months, covered nearly 8000 miles and lost
the life of only one member, had
a very interesting medical supply list. What were the
medicines and the medical practices of the time? Why didn't
Thomas Jefferson send a doctor along? What allowed the
members to survive the incidents that occurred? Could this
feat be accomplished again today? What we know, what we
surmise, and what time and records have given us, can make
history fun.
