By Linda Lutz, Director, Evanston Ecology Center

A journey began May 14, 1804 as the Lewis and Clark Expedition entered the Missouri River. The crew, composed of more than 45 people from many different backgrounds and cultures, was prepared for the first portion of the 1,600-mile journey ahead. But why were they sent?

Just previously in St Louis on March 9 and 10, 1804, the Louisiana Territory became part of the United States of America, which doubled the size of our great nation! President Thomas Jefferson called on Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this newly acquired land by following the Missouri River to its source and on to the Pacific Ocean. Thomas Jefferson was a man with big ideas and vision, nothing less from one of our forefathers! Jefferson, our third president seemed to dabble in just about everything. He designed his own home, conducted the country's first archeological survey, invented a curved plow, predicted carriages powered by steam engines. As a Naturalist, he kept records of rainfall and temperature, described the migration of birds, and noted the dates when flowers bloomed. This attention to the natural world is where our real interest is.

Yes, the Westward Expansion was mostly to secure trading rights along the Missouri River for American settlers, more room for the nation to grow and make the country safer from foreign invasion. But in specific instruction from Jefferson to Lewis, it was stated to gather plant and animal specimens, keep weather records, take soil samples, and examine fossils and minerals. All observations, Jefferson wrote, were "to be taken with great pains and accuracy, to be entered distinctly and intelligibly" into journals.

Wow, they were roving naturalists in uncharted territory! Amazingly, the Corps of Discovery found one hundred twenty-two species and subspecies of animals and one hundred seventy-eight species of plants! Many of these specimens were unknown to the scientific community who lived back in the East. For example, of the coyote Clark remarked "The barking of those little prairie wolves so much resembles those of our common dogs that 2/3 of the party believed them to be dogs of some boat ascending…". The Jackrabbits as Clark reported "… appear to run with more ease and bound with greater agility than any animal I ever saw … I have measured the leaps of this animal and find them commonly from 18 to 22 feet." On July 15, 1805, Lewis wrote in his journal, "… the prickly pear is now in full blume and forms one of the beauties as well as the greatest pests of the plains." The Grizzly bear was referred to as the "white" bear in order to distinguish it from the more familiar "black" bear. Thanks to Seaman, Lewis' Newfoundland dog, for warning the Corps if any were nearby. Amazingly, none of the men were hurt or killed by a grizzly bear.

There are so many accounts of what the Corps of Discovery saw during their adventures. Why not come to the Ladd and discover some of Evanston's last bit of wilderness!

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