Joan and Keith's Travels: Lewis and Clark - The Journey Westwards Begins!

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the United States, departing in May, 1804 from St. Louis on the Mississippi River, making their way westward through the continental divide along the Missouri and Columbia Rivers to the Pacific coast.

The expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, consisting of a select group of U.S. Army volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. Their perilous journey lasted from May 1804 to September 1806. The primary objective was to explore and map the newly acquired territory, find a practical route across the Western half of the continent, and establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it.

The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and establish trade with local Indian tribes.

May 24, 2014

210 years later, 25RV's with 48 modern explorers from all over the United States gathered at the Sundermeier RV Park in St. Charles, located outside of St. Louis, Missouri, to start their journey westward as part of the 40 day Fantasy RV Lewis and Clark - Rivers West Tour. Since Joan and I are staff who are actually training as Wagonmasters on this tour, our customers are lucky as they will have three staff couples on this tour to ensure that they have the best vacation possible!

Our official decal for this trip is on our rig!

May 25, 2014

The start of our journey westward

What better place to start then the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

The Gateway Arch which opened May 25, 1968, is a 630-foot-high monument in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a flattened catenary arch, it is the tallest man-made monument in the United States, Missouri's tallest accessible building, and the world's tallest arch. Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, it is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and has become an internationally famous symbol of St. Louis.

The Gateway Arch reflects St. Louis' role in the Westward Expansion of the United States during the nineteenth century. The park is a memorial to Thomas Jefferson's role in opening the West, to the pioneers who helped shape its history, and to Dred Scott who sued for his freedom in the Old Courthouse.

At the base of the arch is a magnificent museum.

This is truly a marvel of engineering!

It is amazing not one person died during its construction. Watching a movie on the construction process, we noticed that not one person wore a safety belt or harness.
Tracks were built on the backside of the arch as it was constructed.
This allowed two massive cranes to travel up each side of the arch.

You can actually take a ride up to the top of the arch

IF you dare to squeeze into one of the so called 5 person pods!
Okay - where does the fifth person sit??

Once on top - you can peer out of one of many small windows.

What did we see?

We saw the Old Courthouse!

The majestic Old Courthouse has remained over the past 150 years as one of St. Louis' most prominent architectural landmarks. The Old Courthouse was the site of the first two trials of the pivotal Dred Scott case in 1847 and 1850. It was also where Virginia Minor's case for a woman's right to vote came to trial in the 1870s. St. Louis' Old Courthouse is listed in the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network To Freedom. The Network to Freedom recognizes sites, programs and facilities with verifiable associations to the Underground Railroad. The phenomenon popularly known as the Underground Railroad has been broadly defined by the National Park Service as the "historic resistance to enslavement through escape and flight." The Old Courthouse is linked with the story of the Underground Railroad, and with that of slavery, as a property associated with legal challenges to slavery. It was a public forum as well as a courthouse. Slaves were auctioned from its steps in estate settlements, while one man's suit for freedom helped plunge the country into Civil War. The Old Courthouse was the site of hundreds of suits for freedom, but one gained notoriety. In 1847, Dred Scott, with his wife Harriet, sued for, and were granted, their freedom. After many appeals, the case was decided upon by the Supreme Court. The decision stated that slaves were property, and as such, had no right to sue. The Dred Scott Decision hastened the start of the Civil War.

Cardinals Fans Anyone!

Down town St. Louis.

Then off to Union Station!

On September 1, 1894 St. Louis Union Station opened as the largest, most beautiful terminal in the United States. This enormous project was built at the cost of $6.5 million. The gem of this new Station was the Grand Hall with its gold leaf, Romanesque arches, 65-foot barrel vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows. The most magnificent of these stained glass windows is the "Allegorical Window" (pictured above) which is majestically framed by the famous "Whispering Arch." The window shows St Louis in the center with San Francisco to its West and New York to its East.

Now this was cool.

Joan stood on one side of the arch and whispered sweet nothings into my ear!!

The Grand Hall
This was truly majestic and impossible to photograph.
The red coloring in the ceilings was accurate.
Two ladies on each end hold two lanterns signaling the trains.

Just beyond the Head house was the Midway, which was the midway point where friends bid farewell or welcomed home visitors from across the nation and around the world. In its heyday in the mid 1940's, the Midway was the spot where over 100,000 passengers a day traversed on their way to or from a train. The platform area was covered by an enormous single-span train shed designed by George H. Pegram. This was not only one of the largest train sheds ever built, but it also covered the greatest number of tracks.

After World War II, the general public began choosing other forms of transportation. Finally, on October 31, 1978, the last train pulled out of St. Louis Union Station.

Off to Bellefontaine Cemetery - Clark's Grave!

Next stop is Camp Wood, Illinois.

Camp Dubois (English: Camp Wood), near present day Wood River, Illinois, served as the winter camp for the Lewis and Clark Expedition from December 12, 1803, to May 14, 1804.
Founded at the confluence Rivière du Bois (Wood River), it was located on the east side of the Mississippi River so that it was still in United States territory. This was important because the transfer of the Louisiana Purchase to France from Spain did not occur until March 9, 1804, and then from France to the United States on March 10, 1804. The expedition returned again to the camp on their return journey on September 23, 1806.

Jefferson Medal presented as gifts
to Indian Chiefs on the journey west.

Replica of a "Keelboat" built to transverse up the mighty Missouri River!

Lewis and Clark with "Seaman"

Seaman, a black Newfoundland dog, became famous for being a member of the first American overland expedition from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast and back. He was the only animal to complete the entire trip. He was purchased for $20 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Captain Meriwether Lewis while he was in the city awaiting completion of the boats for the voyage in August 1803, for his famed Lewis and Clark expedition.

May 26, 2014

On day number 2, we headed out once more to see the sites.

The Boone Homestead!

In 1803 Nathan Boone began construction of a large stone house on property that he traded for a horse and a bridle. Although this home is called the Daniel Boone Home, it was actually Nathan’s, though his father resided here periodically. The four-story Georgian-style structure was hand-built with quarried Missouri limestone walls that are 2 1/2 feet thick and took about seven years to complete. The house resembles Boone's birthplace in Pennsylvania and ancestral residences in Devon, England, has seven fireplaces, a ballroom on the top floor, and it is reported that Daniel carved the walnut mantelpieces on the fireplaces. Visitors can see museum pieces including Boone's writing desk, long rifles, family dishes, and period furniture in a special guided tour. The home was the last residence of Daniel Boone and he died in the house in 1820.

In 1999 Lindenwood University purchased the home and property and has been constructing Boonesfield Village adjacent to the Boone home to form a living history village that reflects the time of the Louisiana Purchase and early Missouri statehood. The historic buildings in this collection have been moved to the property from sites throughout Missouri and has expanded to include a dozen early 19th-century structures, including the Peace chapel, a schoolhouse, dressmaker's shop, woodworker’s residence, general store, and an animal driven gristmill. The interiors of the buildings have been furnished with period pieces representative of the purpose of the structure. The Daniel Boone Home and Boonesfield Village play's host to a number of annual events that depict the time period.