[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 145 (Friday, October 24, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2092-E2093]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE HISTORIC LEGACY OF LEWIS AND CLARK

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JERRY F. COSTELLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 24, 1997

  Mr. COSTELLO. ***STRPGFIT*** Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my 
colleagues to join me in supporting legislation which will draw 
attention to the historic legacy of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark 
and their journey West as the first white Americans to reach the 
Pacific.
  It is little known outside of my congressional district that Lewis 
and Clark began their mission West near Wood River, IL. Lewis, Clark, 
and their expedition spent the winter of 1803 near what is now home to 
the communities of Hartford and Wood River, IL, at the confluence of 
the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. During this winter season final 
selections of area woodsmen and soldiers were made for the journey to 
the Pacific.
  This expedition, my colleagues will recall, came about by an act of 
Congress. On February 28, 1803, Congress appropriated funds for a small 
U.S. Army unit to explore the Missouri and Columbia Rivers and inform 
western Indian tribes that traders would soon come to buy their furs. 
President Jefferson was increasingly concerned about British furriers 
and trappers expanding their influence south, through Canada, into 
American territories. Irving W. Anderson, past president of the Lewis 
and Clark Heritage Foundation, describes the journey's goals:

       The explorers were to make a detailed report on western 
     geography, climate, plants and animals, and to study the 
     customs and languages of the Indians. Plans for the 
     expedition were almost complete when the President learned 
     that France offered to sell all of Louisiana Territory to the 
     United States. This transfer, which was completed within a 
     year, doubled the area of the United States.

[[Page E2093]]

     It means that Jefferson's Army expedition could travel all 
     the way to the crest of the Rockies on American soil, no 
     longer needing permission from the former French owners.

  Mr. Anderson notes that Meriwether Lewis recorded in his journal that 
Wood River was ``to be considered the point of departure'' for the 
westward journey. This 28-year-old Army captain, who knew the President 
well from their previous residences near Charlottesville, VA, spent 
that winter selecting 45 men to begin the journey West. When they left 
Camp DuBois on May 14, 1804 and headed West, little did they know what 
the journey would hold. Their Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific 
Ocean over a year later, in November 1805, and began their journey back 
across the mountains, returning to St. Louis on September 23, 1806.
  It goes without saying that this journey was among the most 
significant in our Nation's history. The Louisiana Purchase and opening 
of the West to new exploration and development paved the way for 
settlement of California, establishment of a greater American union and 
relocation of millions of Americans westward throughout the 20th 
century. And while Americans can identify F. Clatsop and other Lewis 
and Clark historic sites, many do not yet know about the Lewis and 
Clark Site No. 1, Camp DuBois, near Wood River, IL. That is the 
intention of this legislation.
  I want to congratulate the dedicated individuals in my congressional 
district who have worked for years to build the Lewis and Clark 
memorial, which now stands at the confluence of the Mississippi and 
Missouri Rivers. In particular, Mr. George Arnold, who is president of 
the local Lewis and Clark Memorial Society, has dedicated many years of 
his life to the legacy of Lewis and Clark and the construction of both 
the memorial and an interpretive center to lay out the rich Illinois 
history of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
  My legislation has the strong support of the Illinois congressional 
delegation, will call attention to this journey and seek to expedite 
efforts by local, State and Federal officials to build this 
interpretive enter. The Congress has played an active role in this 
process; in fiscal year 1991, Congress appropriated $115,000 for land 
acquisition adjacent to route 3, on the dry side of the flood levee; 
and in fiscal year 1993, Congress appropriated $88,000 for a National 
Park Service study to determine who best to build and design the 
center. Both of these funds were appropriated under the 1972 Lewis and 
Clark National Historic Trail, which remains the authorizing 
legislation for the interpretive center as well.
  Our next goal is to move forward with the interpretive center. State 
and local resources are in place to begin this process; it will be a 
50-50 cost-share with the Federal Government. It is my strong hope that 
much of this local support will be in place in the spring of 1998, so 
that we can ask the National Park Service and the Congress to 
appropriate sufficient funds to begin construction of the Visitors 
Center.
  I want to thank the local, State and Federal officials who are now 
ready to work with me not only on this commemorative legislation but 
also on the funding required to make the new center a reality. It will 
serve as a tribute to the Illinois legacy of these great explorers, and 
enhance what the Nation understands about the sacrifice and heritage of 
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's journey to the Pacific.

                          ____________________