[Heritage] Special Lewis and Clark Issue

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1.  Corps II starts weekend in The Dalles
2.  Signature Event tickets available
3.  OHS preparing for national exhibit
4.  LCBO provides complete event calendar
5.  Oregon tourism number increases in 2005


CORPS II STARTS WEEKEND IN THE DALLES

The National Park Service traveling exhibition "Corps of Discovery II: 200 Years to the Future" will be open to the public at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles through Oct. 31. Corps II, as it is frequently called, is a joint effort of federal and state agencies, private and nonprofit organizations, and American Indian tribes. 

The central features of Corps of Discovery II is the "Tent of Many Voices." This 150-seat auditorium is a venue for cultural arts demonstrations, folklore, music, living history presentations, readings from the expedition journals and more. Programs reflect a spectrum of nature, culture and history topics. The Tent of Many Voices schedule in The Dalles is available online at http://www.gorgediscovery.org/events.aspx.. 

In addition to a walk-through exhibit, Corps of Discovery II has a 25-foot keelboat replica, a 16-foot diameter Plains Indian lodge, an explorer camp complete with a 25-foot dugout canoe, and living history actors. 

Corps II will be open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.. Its visit to The Dalles is co-hosted by The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, the USDA Forest Service, the Oregon Army National Guard, Crestline Construction, Comfort Inn and Wells Fargo. Corps II is largely staffed by the National Park Service but involves more than two dozen federal agencies, 41 Indian nations, 18 Lewis and Clark Trail state commissions, dozens of state and local agencies, non-profit groups and thousands of individual volunteers. 

Following the visit to The Dalles, Corps II's next stop in Oregon will be Nov 19-22  in Seaside. Other Oregon visits will be: 
Mar 13-20   St. Helens, Waterfront  
Mar 25-Apr 2  Grand Ronde, Grand Ronde Reservation 
Apr 22-25   Warm Springs, Warm Springs Reservation 
Apr 29-May 7 Pendleton, Umatilla Reservation 


SIGNATURE EVENT TICKETS AVAILABLE

"Destination: The Pacific," the nationally-recognized Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Signature event for Oregon and Washington, will take place Nov. 11-15 in Clatsop and Pacific counties. It features nine core programs that will entertain, inform, and engage people along the Lower Columbia and Pacific Coast. There's still time to register for these events and make hotel reservations.

Plans for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial commemoration are "proceeding on," according to Destination: The Pacific executive director Cyndi Mudge.  "While we are all heartbroken over the fire that recently destroyed the Fort Clatsop replica, we continue working with the National Park Service and our other partners to ensure Destination: The Pacific programs will still take place."

The opening ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. Nov. 11 at Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond. It will include a pageantry of tribal flags, a Native American Veterans honor dance, the National Anthem sung by former Miss America Katie Harman, and comments by the Oregon and Washington governors and Adjutant Generals. A traditional tribal welcome by Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes Chairman Joe Scovell and a tribal blessing by Dick Basch, a direct descendent of Chief Coboway on whose ancient village the fort stand, help join the past with the present. The program concludes with a 21-gun salute with guns fired from both Oregon and Washington and a helicopter fly over with Chinooks, Blackhawks and an F-15. 

Following the ceremony, participants are invited to go to the top of the battlement to listen to park rangers interpret what Lewis and Clark would have seen when they reached the Pacific Ocean. The opening ceremony is preceded by the Oregon/Washington National Guard band concert starting at 9 AM and continues until the ceremony begins.  Espresso vendors, military displays, and other exhibits are on display throughout the morning. There will be covered seating for elderly and handicapped. 

AAA Oregon and Destination: The Pacific are offering three-day passes to Festival of the Pacific: Lewis and Clark Remembered.  The Festival is one of nine programs that are part of the nationally sanctioned Signature Event for Oregon and Washington, Destination: The Pacific.  For more information or to receive a registration form for Festival passes visit www.aaa.com or call 800-333-9051.

Some of the other events require advance reservations. For tickets and complete information about all of the events, visit the Destination: The Pacific website at www.destinationthepacific.com


OHS PREPARING FOR NATIONAL EXHIBIT

>From Nov. 12-March 2006, the Oregon Historical Society will host the largest collection of Lewis and Clark Expedition artifacts, artwork and documents of the past 200 years. The core of this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition will be formed by artifacts, artwork, and documents entrusted to the Missouri Historical Society by the Clark and Lewis families in the early 20th century. Period objects and art will represent the equipment the explorers used, the landscapes they saw, and the Native American tribes they met. More than 600 artifacts will illustrate cultural encounters along the journey of Lewis and Clark.

The Missouri Historical Society's collections will be augmented by objects from other institutions with significant Lewis and Clark and ethnographic holdings, including the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, the Smithsonian Institution, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscripts Library, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the Oregon Historical Society.

The artifacts and features include:
The letter of credit from Thomas Jefferson to Meriwether Lewis (dated 4 July 1803)
Plant specimens Native American artifacts presented to Lewis and Clark
The captains' scientific equipment
Clark's handwritten, illustrated field journal
Artifacts from the Oregon Historical Society collection, including Captain Lewis' branding iron

Several special events will take place surrounding the opening. The public opening of the exhibition is slated for 9 a.m. Nov. 12.

OHS is the only museum on the West Coast to host this unique exhibition. Because large crowds are anticipated, a timed-ticket system will be used. Tickets and other information about the exhibit, programs and related exhibits are available at http://www.ohs.org/Lewis-and-Clark-and-OHS.cfm


LCBO PROVIDES COMPLETE EVENT CALENDAR

Lewis and Clark Bicentennial events will be taking place almost daily for the next six months in Oregon. Wondering how to keep up on what to do and when to do it? One place that has many of the programs, lectures, exhibits, hikes, radio series and other activity is the website of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Oregon. That can be found at www.lcbo.net


OREGON TOURISM NUMBER INCREASES IN 2005

The Oregon Tourism Commission reports statewide lodging trends in Oregon for the first seven months (January-July 2005) are strong. Occupancy rates are averaging 4.3% ahead of the same period a year ago at 58.3%.  For more information about the state's tourism industry, visit http://emailer.emailroi.com/reader.ice?DJYL5457168701&heritage.info&501
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This Lewis and Clark Bicentennial update is a service of the Oregon Heritage Commission, which can be contacted at heritage.info at state.or.us