J u l y 1 9 9 9 I d a h o Chapter N e w s l e t t e r

JOIN GARY MOULTON FOR LUNCH IN COUER D'ALENE, JULY 29'^ Idaho Chapter members are invited to join Idaho and Eastern Washington educators in listening to Dr. Gary Moulton speak at a luncheon during the session entitled "Lewis and Clark: Wor ld Class Learners and Leaders" . This is sponsored by the University of Idaho and Nor thu est Regional Educational Laboratory in partnership with Fort Clatsop National Memorial .

Reservations must be made by July 26 to: U I C o e u r d ' A l e n e Center, 925 W. Garden Ave. , Coeur d 'Alene . ID 83814. Cost of the lunch is $15.00.

Dr. Moul ton. a wel l -known Lewis and Clark expert, is editor of the 11 volume set of the .Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

ANNUAL CHAPTER GET-TOGETHER PLANNED FOR BISMARCK Members attending the annual Lewis and Clark Trail R e n t a g e Foundation annual meeting in Bismarck. ND, should plan on attending the Chapter get-together on August 4 prior to the closing banquet f-^atunng Clay Jenkinson. Look for signs at the hotel for the location of the reception.

Chapter members will also discuss the upcoming Chapter elections. The chapter is in need of interested members who would like to serve on the board of directors or serve as officers.

GREAT FALLS CHAPTER FUNDS I LEWIS & CLARK SYMPHONY CD As part of its 40' ' ' annixersary, the Great Falls Symphony commiss ioned the production of a Lewis and Clark symphony. Daniel Bukvich.

Professor ot Music at the University of Idaho composed the work and it was recently performed by the Great Falls Symphony. It was very moving. It is an excellent symphony, one most appropriate as we : approach the bicentennial .

The Portage Route chapter funded the production of a compact disc. Proceeds from the sale of the C D s are being shared by the Chapter and the Great Falls Symphony . The price for these is $10 plus $2.50 for shipping. This price is good through August i . Contact Ella Mae Howard , Chapter President at (406) 727-2682 or email : ehowardd valcom.net for further information.

OROFINO PURSUES PLANS FOR PATH ALONG CLEARWATER RIVER This spring, Orofino city officials announced plans to seek Federal funds for a pa thway • along the Clearwater River in conjunction with the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedit ion. The 6 and Vi m.ile path would run along the southside of the river and US Highway 12 past the airport. (Lewiston Morning Tr ibune, April 16, 1999)

CALENDAR JULY 29 - Cd'A Luncheon with Dr Moulton AUG. 1-4 Bismarck, Annual Meeting, LCTHF AUG. 4 Bismarck; Chapter get-together

• AUG. 12 Lewiston; Mike Venso lecture, Lewis-Clark Center for Arts & History; 5 PM

AUG. 12-SEPT. 11 Venso photographic exhibit Lewis-Clark Center for Arts & History

AUG. 13 Salmon; Idaho Governor's Lewis & Clark Trail Committee, 9 AM - Noon

SLPT. 18 Dayton, WA - Joint meeting with . Washington Chapter at Lewis & Clark Trail State Park. See next newsletter for details.

Lewis and Clark Trail

HERITAGE rOUNDATIOH.

INC.

1999 Lewis & Clark Labor Day Campout Like last year's Labor Day exploration, this event is being organized so non-cannpers and those with passenger cars can attend. We will "pool" our rigs for day trips since some vehicles may not be suitable for some of the roads.

The Hear t of t h e L o l o Tra i l w i t h T R I P L E " O " O U T F I T T E R S t Harlan and Barb Opdahl have a base camp in the center of the Lolo Trail that is reached over Saddle Camp Road (a gooa gravel road). The camp has several buildings and many tents and they can feed a lot of people. You have the choice of sleeping in your own RV, pitching a tent, or using one of the Triple "0"'s tents (bring your own sleeping bag). We'll eat the outfitter's grub. No cooking or KP! . • . 4 * / a v ; r * ; ^ COST: $40/day/person for food, or $65/day/person for food and lodging.

Charley Knowles and Chuck Raddon will again provide expert commentary as to i the route Lewis and Clark took as well as other trails In the area. t

E x p e d i t i o n A g e n d a FRIDAY NIGHT, Sept. 3: No planned meals. "Campfire" and stories while awaiting late arrivals. SATURDAY. Sept. 4: Travel east to Lolo Pass and Glade Creek camp, observe where they

descended on the wrong trail and visit Colt Killed Camp. Proceed back to the Motorway to Rocky Ridge Lookout for a tremendous view of the area. Visit camps such as 13 Mile Camp, Snowbank Camp and others. Back in camp for dinner and campfire.

SUNDAY, Sept. 5: Visit Indian Post Office in the morning. Hike to Lonesome Cove or view peeled trees. While returning to camp, view alternative route theories: Which way did they go? Moccasin Peak or Horseshoe Creek? Back in camp by 3 for an early dinner. After dinner, take an evening horseback ride ($25) or walk the 3 mile trail that visits the Sinque Hole, Indian Grave Meadow (the probable campsite instead of Sinque Hole) and visit the Smoking Place at sunset. Back to camp for a late snack and campfire.

MONDAY, Sept. 6: Head for home. There will be a caravan west over the Motorway to come > out at Weippe or Kamiah catching some of the sites on the west side of the Clearwater National .̂ ^̂ Forest. If it is a clear day, a hike up Sherman Peak will be included. ;

F i n d i n g o u r b a s e c a m p Travel east on Highway 12 from Lewiston (about 3 and V2 hours) to Mile Post 139 (the green , numbered paddles on the side of the road), or about 60 miles east of Kooskia. This is Saddle Camp Road, #107.

Turn north (left for those traveling up river). Saddle Camp road is a good gravel road. Stay on the main road for about a half hour to 45 minutes when you will reach Saddle camp at the junction of the #500 road. Actually this is a 5-way intersection.

Take the 2"^ left or road #587. Proceed about 15 minutes to our camp on the right. We'll have signs guiding us. This is a good gravel road and the discussion below does not apply. ,

D r i v i n g t h e 500 R o a d : Y o u a n d y o u r v e h i c l e Tires are the greatest limitation on the 500 road with passenger cars. "Highway" tires designed for lightness to obtain good mileage break cords on this rocky road. Other limitations include clearance which usually only affects very low cars. Motorhomes will be swept by overhanging trees and brush, and by rocks on tight turns. The road is single lane with turnouts to allow passing, but there are sections of more than one-half mile without any turn-outs. Drivers should be able to back 14 mile comfortably to a turn-out using their mirrors. Uphill traffic has the right-of-way.

On our expeditions from base camp, we will "car pool" to aid discussions and to reduce congestion on these narrow roads. If you have a large passenger-carrying rig (van, suburban, etc.) please bring it.

If y o u are i n t e r e s t e d in t h i s t r i p ... . Contact Steve Lee if you are interested or plan to go on this trip and would like to make » -^i"

reservations. He can be reached at: (509) 229-3870; PO Box 2264, Lewiston, ID 83501 or by e-mail at: sglee@mail.wsu.edu

F r i d a y , J L i n c " 2 5 , 1 9 9 9 L E W I S T O N M O R N I N G T R I B U N E NORTHWEST O b i t u a r i e s Page 2C

Citizens explore Lewis & Clark center ideas Clarkston facility planned for confluence area

By LESLIE EINHAUS or- THE TRIBUNE ' ' Ca p t u r i n g ilu' sp i r i t of d i s cove ry

should be the No. 1 mission for |)laii-i iers o l 'a poss ib le Lewis and Clark

b i c e n t e n n i a l in te r i ) i ' e ta t ive c e n t e r in C la rks ton , accoi-vlinL; to Art S e a n i a n s ol' r ,ewiston.

A s i te has not been cl iosen yet , but i t ' s l ikely to be loca ted at the con f luence oi' the Snake and C lea rwa te r r ivers .

Lewis and Clark ' s j ou rney is "one of the mos t de l ight fu l a d v e n t u r e s w e ' v e e v e r known," S e a m a n s said.

Seiz ing t he e x c i t e m e n t of d i s cove ry is

the key to the in t e rp re t a t ive c e n t e r ' s suc­c e s s , he a d d e d . " ( T h e a s t r o n a u t s ) k n e w m o r e abou t t he moon t h a n (Lewis and Clark) ever did about the West."

l i e offered liis v iews aloii^ with a half dozen othei 's at a mee t ing held T h u r s d a y e v e n i n g to d i s cus s p l ans for deve lop ing Asotin County for the b i c e n t e n n i a l of the Lewis and Clark E x p e d i t i o n . T h e e v e n t will take place from 2003 th rough 2006.

About 25 peop l e a t t e n d e d t he g a t h e r ­ing.

M a n d i R o b e r t s , project m a n a g e r from Otak Inc . , the firm in c h a r g e of p l a n n i n g for the b i c e n t e n n i a l , d i s cus sed the l ikely f ea tu r e s of t he c e n t e r and the poss ib i l i ty

of a b i c y c l e / p e d e s t r i a n t ra i l l ink ing the cen t e r to Chief T imothy State Park.

O t h e r m e m b e r s of the a u d i e n c e ac ­knowledged the c e n t e r should not only fo­cus on Lewis and Clark , but a lso on o the r h i s to r i ca l a s p e c t s of t he a r e a , i nc lud ing the Nez Perce Indian lifestyle and region­al geological si tes.

But the m a i n a t t r a c t i o n should still be Lewis and Clark, Robe r t s said.

As the p lans a r e now ske tched , Rober t s said the c e n t e r will offer p a t r o n s a " m o r e a u t h e n t i c e x p e r i e n c e " fea tu r ing rep l i cas of swea thouses and t epees .

Clarkston bus iness owner David Beuke voiced c o n c e r n a b o u t t he c e n t e r ' s popu­la r i ty af ter t he b i c e n t e n n i a l c e l e b r a t i o n runs its course .

His solution is lo nicorporatc- a bus iness and informat ion i iu ieau a longs ide the in­t e rp re ta t ive center.

Also, he would like to see Washington ' s b i g g e r c o r p o r a t i o n s p a r t i c i p a t e in tiie liroject.

" ( T h e c e n t e r ) will lie the g. i teway into the s tale of Wasiiini ' ion," lie said.

If the c o r p o r a t i o n s a r en ' t part of the e q u a t i o n , "We won' t have a rea l ly eye-popping kind of i n t c ip re t a t i ve cenler ."

T h e r e also are pl.nis in the wnrks to c re­a te an informalion. i l c i ' i i ler l>ii' Lewis ton visi tors.

All the projects fur the Clarks ton inter­p r e t a t i v e c e n t e r a r e in the iilea s t a g e at th i s t ime . No moiu \s lieeii a w a r d e d to build it.

Lewis and Clark are everywhere you look U vv-'.''>ir '0 /v^oiTUOiMc;-T(Fii6t',\iC. Z-m^-Y) Famous explorers' names appear in some likely — and unlikely — places

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sure they lilazctl tlie t ra i l from St. Loui.s to the Pacific, but the real lega­cy of the Lewi.s and Clark expedi t ion

is more obvious. The i r n a m e s a re exe rywhere . One can i iardly es( ape the in t rep id ex­

p lo re r s , espec ia l ly in the West. T h e r e a re Lewis and Clark schools , mo te l s , r e s t a u ­rants , pawn shops and count ies .

T h e r e is Lewis -C la rk S ta te Col lege h e r e in Lewis ton . There is Lewis and Clark College in Por t land , Ore. , a t t e n d e d by Monica Lewinsky

T h e r e is Cla rk ( ' ( U i i i t y , Wash. , n e a r Lewis County, Wash.

T h e r e ' s Lewiston, jus t across the Snake River from CIark.ston, in the Lewis-Clark Valley, w h e r e the e x p l o r e r s v i s i ted with the Nez Perce Indians .

Now, with the b i c e n t e n n i a l of t h e i r ex­ped i t ion a p p r o a c h i n g , Lewis and Cla rk a r e ho t t e r than M u l d e r and Scully. T h e r e was a bes t - s e l l i ng book, " U n d a u n t e d Courage" by S tephen Ambrose , and a PBS television d o c u m e n t a r y by Ken Burns .

" T h e r e ' s a t r e m e n d o u s bu r s t of nat ion­al i n t e r e s t and e n t h u s i a s m for a n y t h i n g r e l a t e d to the e x p e d i t i o n , " said Dona ld P e t e r s o n of t he Lewis & Clark Tra i l H e r ­i tage Founda t ion I n c . in G r e a t Fal ls , Mont.

Pe te r son got so m a n y r e q u e s t s for in­formation that he has jus t l aunched Lewis

and Clark Se rv ices , to do t o u r s , speak ing e n g a g e m e n t s and consul t ing about the ex­p lorers .

Re ta i l e r s a r e a l r eady picking up on the fact tha t l inks to Lewis and Clark a r e good for bus iness .

Lewis a n d Cla rk T ra i l A d v e n t u r e s in Missoula , Mont. , specia l izes in tak ing hik­e r s , c a n o e i s t s and b icyc l i s t s a long por­t ions of the Lewis and Clark Trai l in Idaho a n d M o n t a n a , o w n e r Wayne Fa i r ch i ld said.

"I s aw it c o m i n g 10 or 15 y e a r s a g o , " Fa i r ch i ld sa id of t he u p s w i n g in i n t e r e s t abou t the e x p l o r e r s . "A lot of peop le a r e j u m p i n g on the bandwagon now."

M e r i w e t h e r Lewis and Wil l iam Clark led the Corps of Discovery, a mi l i t a ry ex­

pedi t ion to exp lo re the lands a c q u i r e d by P r e s i d e n t T h o m a s Je f f e r son in the Lou i s i ana P u r c h a s e . T h e y t r a v e l e d by boat , foot and h o r s e uji the Missour i Riv­er, ac ross the Rocky Mounta ins and down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.

T h e exped i t ion " c a r r i e d t he des t iny as well as t he flag of ou r young na t ion west­w a r d , " a c c o r d i n g to a Na t iona l P a r k Ser­vice m a p of the Lewis and Clark Trai l .

So Lewis and Cla rk b e c a m e h e r o e s — t h e i r n a m e s a symbo l of t he i n t r e p i d Amer i can spiri t .

And in t h e sp i r i t of A m e r i c a n f ree en­t e r p r i s e , b u s i n e s s e s a r e u s ing t h o s e n a m e s — no m a t t e r how th in the connec ­tion to tha t long-ago ven tu re .

An Associated P re s s s ea rch of a nation-See Everywhere, Page 6C

al t e l e p h o n e dat .abase found, for ins t ance , Lewis and ( l a r k Unlim­ited in Eagles Mere , i*a.

Steve Klarscli owns the buy, sell and t i a d e b u s i n e s s , which c a t e r s to tour is ts .

" Jus t l ike t hey w e r e ea r ly ex­p l o r e r s , we a r e m o d e r n - d a y e x - , p l o r e r s , " said K l a r s c h , who s e a r c h e s for a n t i q u e s , i m p o r t e d glass and unique i tems.

A n o t h e r b u s i n e s s , Lewis and Clark of Mollis, N . l l . , se l l s u s e d m a n u f a c t u r i n g e q u i p m e n t . T h e i r slogan: "Somet imes it pays to seek an a l te rna t ive r o u t e . '

Lewis and Clark Rea l ty of New York City is n a m e d for t he two owners , not the exp lore r s .

Tlu- St. L()u\ a n a has n u m e r ­ous l i s t ings fo:' Lewis and Cla rk , a s does the u p p e r Midwes t . S ta te pa rks a re named for the exp lo re r s in Noi th Dakota , South Dakota , Nebraska and Iowa.

T h e b igges t t r i b u t e m u s t be Montana ' s Lewis and Clark Coun­ty, h o m e to 47,000 people and t he s ta te capi ta l of Helena . The coun­ty also she l t e r ed Un .d iomber Ted Kaczynski , whose mounta in shack

I

was n e a r Lewis and Clark Pass in the Rocky M o u n t a i n s . M o n t a n a also has a Lewistown.

T h e r e a r e Lewis and Clark e le­m e n t a r y schoo ls in G r e a t Fal ls , R i c h l a n d , Poca te l lo , W e n a t c h e e and Missoula , Mont.

What m a y be the only h igh school in t h e na t ion n a m e d for Lewis and Clark is in S p o k a n e — r igh t a long I n t e r s t a t e 90 and ju s t down the road from Sacajawea Ju­n io r H igh , n a m e d for t he young I n d i a n w o m a n who h e l p e d gu ide them.

Lewis & Cla rk C a v e r n s , n e a r Whi tehal l , Mont. , was n e v e r ac tu­ally v is i ted by t he e x p l o r e r s . Nei­t h e r w a s Lewis & Cla rk S u r p l u s and Pawn in Glasgow, Mont.

After s leeping outdoors and eat­ing n o t h i n g bu t d e e r m e a t for w e e k s , Lewis and Cla rk m i g h t h a v e a p p r e c i a t e d t h e Lewis and Clark RV p a r k in Nor th Bon­nevil le , Wash.

"I have people come to the park and say, 'Shal l I m a k e out t he check to Mr. Lewis or Mr. Clark?' " o w n e r Geo rge De Gro t t e sa id . "I t doesn ' t m a k e a d i f f e rence . I s ign for both of t hem."

De Gro t t e c h o s e t he n a m e 13 y e a r s ago b e c a u s e the a r e a , a long the Columbia River Gorge , is r ich in Lewis and Clark history.

"We ' r e on t he Lewis and Cla rk t r a i l , you know," said wife Glor ia De Grot te .

T h e e x p l o r e r s m i g h t a l so h a v e enjoyed a few l ines of bowl ing at Lewis and Clark Lanes n e a r Seat­t le . T h e bowl ing a l ley f e a t u r e s a h u g e m u r a l , a c r o s s all 32 l a n e s , depic t ing the exp lo re r s .

But the bus iness is not bes ieged by Lewis and Clark buffs.

"No, th i s is t he f irst t i m e , " em­p loyee Casey Ness sa id w h e n a s k e d if t he e x p l o r e r s ' l egacy comes up often.

Lewis ton and C la rk s ton a r e a ho tbed of Lewi s - and -C la rk n a m ­ing, wi th d o z e n s of l i s t ings , in­c l u d i n g Lewis -C la rk M e m o r i a l G a r d e n s , Lewis -Cla rk Moto r Co., Lewis-Clark P lumbing & Hea t ing , and Lewis and Clark Anesthes ia .

Local b u s m e s s o t t ic ia ls p red ic t m o r e t han 1 mil l ion peop le will t r oop t h r o u g h t he Lewis ton-Clarks ton Valley dur ing the bicen­tennia l ce lebra t ions .

"We sit in one of the most excit­ing p laces on the Lewis and Clark m a p , " sa id S u a n n e Ho t to i s , v ice c h a i r w o m a n of Idaho ' s Lewis and Clark Trai l Commit tee .

But don ' t th ink that r is ing inter­est in Lewis and Clark, and all the place.> n a m e d for them, m e a n peo­ple r ea l ly know m u c h a b o u t t h e exp lo re r s .

"I saw a su rvey once tha t said a lot of high school s tuden t s thought it w a s one p e r s o n : Lewis N. C la rk , " said h i s t o r i an Car los S c h w a n t e s of the U n i v e r s i t y of I d a h o . "Or one word , L e w i s a n d -c la rk ."

School districts win share grant

six north-central Idaho <chooi di'itri.nv wi!! share a fede':i' zr:\ut associated with the upcoming Lewi?, and Clark bicentennial.

The S7.5 million grant will be divided over the next five years between schools in Potlatch. Moscow, Lewiston. Lapwai, Kamiah and Orofino, as well as one district each in Oregon. Montana, West Virginia. Iowa. New Jersey and Missouri.

Teachers will explore the changes in their communities since Lewis and Clark traveled down the Clearwater River 200 years ago. They will look not only at cultural change but also differences in the atmosphere, environment and geology.

Each of the 12 schools will develop a Web site as it gathers information on the past 200 years.

5R ^'is-9<f '^vns-C!arkcamp

The National Trust tor Hisivuic P:v-crv ,?:on has included Tra%elers" Rc-i. a Le-A :> and Clark can>p>itc

! i ; v o ' : c Places. Foi more than lUU years, historians

have believed that Traveler's Rest was located a few miles south of Lolo. Recent evidence shows the campsite mav be one mile west of where the National Register of Historic Places marked the site.

The remains of tepee circles have neen disco\d on the property west of the marker, which is privately owned and being considered for de'-eiopmeiii. , .

•'Traveler^ Rest v'.a^ an important ex-l^^-a-: -n .^ 'v i idk-y^ardM 'V. president ot tne National Trust. ' w e must protec: this land from further t ie 'e lopment until we can conduct proper research and lea.rn the truili

i n- M:-; 'r \r • '.wil leau.re the ^i:e in "' America'- Most Eudaagerea." Thursday.

Lunch only: Resistration info:

Instructor: Guest Speaker: Registration:

Name

$15 (Thursday lunch with Dr. Moul ton) Larrx McClure (Northwest Regional Educat ional Labora tory) Mcckirelg-nwrel.or^j or 800-547-6339

Dr. Larry McClure , Lewis and Clark Bicentennial liaison for education partners Dr. Gary Moul ton . Editor of the Lewis and Clark Journals (July 29 only) Send to U of I Coeur d'Alene Center, 92? West Garden Ave.. Coeur d'Alene. ID S3S14 Must have payment enclosed with registration. Registration deadline: July 26 - Non-refundable cancellation after July 26. =

Limited enrol lment

Lewis and Clark: World Class Learners and Leaders

Address

City.

School

State Zip_

Grade Enclosed: V $85 registration fee w $45 credit fee l l $15 lunch only H c h e c k enclosed f l Visa/Master card # Expiration H S i 2 n a t u r e _

B Y H E R B E R T K U P F E R B E R G

—(4\ S uv id i

73/^ C H I L D R E N

Historical Pawprints The Lewis and Clark Expe ­d i t i on , w h i c h o p e n e d the Amer i can West in 1805 and 1806, was, among other things, an early exercise in democra­cy. Its personnel included an Ind ian w o m a n , S a c a g a w e a , her infant son, Pompey, and a black slave (later fi-eed) named York. But did you know there also was a dog on the trip? He was a Newfoundland named Seaman , and he ' s ment ioned nearly 30 times in the diaries of Captains Meriwether Lewis and 'William Clark.

Gail Langer Karwoski has had the delightful idea of mak­ing Seaman the central char-acter in her retelling of the epic stor>' of the famous expedition. -Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West With Lewis & Clark (paperback S8.95) obviously is a fictional­ized account, but its atmosphere

is realistic, its t imetable is ac­curate, and its events and char­acterizations are grounded in fact. Seaman joins the intrepid explorers in the tale with a per­sonality all his own. hunting and

re i r ievmg game, to t ing supp l i e s , ba t t l i ng aga ins t wi ld a n i m a l s (once almost los­ing his hfe when bitten by a beaver) and f ro l i ck ing with his compan­ions a r o u n d the evening campfire.

This soundly re­searched, smooth­ly wr i t t en s tory will bring the en­

tire expedit ion alive for read­ers 8 to 12, adding not only a can ine but a h u m a n e lement to a tale that never grows weari­s o m e . N o b o d y k n o w s what happened to Seaman after his Western advenmres. but he has certainly left one good book t)e-hind him. It's available in stores or from Peachtree Publishers. L td . , Dep t . P. 4 9 4 A r m o u r Ci rc le N .E . . At lan ta . Ga. 30324. Phone: 1-800-241-0113.

C o m p a c t D i s c O r d e r F o r m -From The Journals of Lewis & Clark ' ^

by Daniel Bukvich World Premiere, March 23 , 1999 > Great Falls Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir

Recording and Production of Compact Disc Funded by The Portage Route Chapter of the L«wis & Clark Trai l Heritage Foundation

Name Phone #

Address City Z i p .

I'd like to order CD ' s{@$10 .00 = S.̂ J . . . _ _

Postage and handling - please add $2.50 each = $

TOTAL $

Method of payment; check enclosed (payable to Great Falls Symphony) -or-charge Visa/MC/Discover # Exp d t .

MAIL TO Great Falls Symphony > P.O. Box 1078 Great Falls, MT p) 406-453-4102 (0 406-453-9779 F.stimaled dale of delivery - last week of June. 1999

He's a one-man Corps of Discovery

By TARA KING OF THE TRIBUNE ':' \--[ • By breathing life into a president who

changed the West in the 1800s, Clay Jenkin­son hopes to change what happens 200

years later. ^ --iil-wa»tt<yshape t h e i e w i s and^lark bicenten-ni9r«sperienc€," he«ays. "I want people to think

-this is about history, about ideas, not about T-shirts, campgrounds and expens ive cups of cap­puccino."

Jenkinson is a scholar and impersonator who slips into a wig and tights and becomes Thomas Jefferson, the president who sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their legendary ex­pedition.

He steps on stage and, without notes, stutters or pregnant pauses, enl ivens history.

"Mr. Lewis' death was a great blow to me," Jenkinson as Jefferson tel ls a lunchtime audi­ence this week at "Passages '99, Getting Under Way," a symposium in preparation for the bicen-tennial. . '

In part, Jenkinson explains to the crowd, the loss of Lewis meant a loss of science.

"When he died, Mr I ^ w i s had not written a single page of his proposed accounts You know of his journals, rich with detail, written af­ter exhausting days. Imagine what he could have done."

Jenkinson's own attention to detail — one line in his Thursday performance included a refer­ence to Jefferson's love of fine Bordeaux wine — is the result of reading 2,000-or-so books on the president.

"Or anything remotely within that zone," he says.

"You can easily let this become a mania, a te­dious obsession. But the genius iis in the details. When I say, 'I can tell you what happened on Tuesday the third of March,' (the audience) says, 'Whoa, he's either a really good liar or this is an obsession.'"

Jenkinson's Jefferson means more than the pursuit of a perfect impersonation, he says.

"Two issues are dealt with in Lewis and Clark. rinp iQ t h p i c s n p nf p n r n i i n t p r h e t w p p n thf> Mati^To Americans and the Europeans."

And 200 years later, race relations need dire attention, he says.

The second issue is the relationship be tween humans and landscape.

"Can we learn from their exper ience about how we should live on this land? We take our en- _ vironment for granted, but Lewis and Clark did not.

"They were filled with wonder and awe. The Indians had it, too; they lived simply and beauti­fully."

"The (bicentennial) should be about the ideas that brought Lewis and Clark here. Ideas are no

See Discovery, Rage 4A

D i s c o v e r y

From 1> less profitable, but infinitely mon interesting."

Jenkinson, who l ives in Reno, Nev., is on leave as a humanit ies professor at the University of Nevada. He spends much of his t ime finishing two books due out this year, one on Jefferson and the other on his home state of North Dakota.

And he does a lot of Jefferson. "If I let it happen, I could retire

young in my tights," he says of Jefferson's popularity.

Jenkinson also impersonates Meriwether Lewis , as well as Johr Wesley Powell, the one-armed Civil War veteran who explored the Colorado Plateau and led the first expedit ions down the Green and Colorado rivers.

• But it's Jefferson who gets the calls ."

Jefferson is the most frequently quoted of the founding fathers, he says. "He's seen as a Renaissance man, a visionary. Everyone wants to have Thomas Jefferson on his side."

As beloved as Jefferson is, Jenkinson would rather imperson­ate Erasmus, a Dutch "Renais­sance humanist" who published the Greek New Testament in 1516.

"He was one of the greatest m e n to ever l ive, but I wouldn't want to sit by the phone wait ing for calls asking for Erasmus."