[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 154 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S11882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 144--RELATIVE TO THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION

  Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. Moseley-Braun) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources:

                              S. Res. 144

       Whereas President Thomas Jefferson selected Meriwether 
     Lewis and William Clark to be co-leaders of an expedition to 
     explore the Missouri and Columbia rivers;
       Whereas Lewis and Clark staged their epic journey at the 
     confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers in December 
     1803;
       Whereas they camped for the winter at the mouth of Wood 
     River, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, opposite the 
     entrance to the Missouri River;
       Whereas the 2 captains recruited young woodsmen and 
     enlisted soldiers who volunteered from nearby Army outposts, 
     selecting a roster of approximately 45 men for the 
     expedition;
       Whereas Meriwether Lewis recorded that the mouth of the 
     Wood River was ``to be considered the point of departure'' 
     for the 1 of the most important journeys into the American 
     West; and
       Whereas the bicentennial of this monumental expedition will 
     be observed beginning in 2003: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses its support for an interpretive site near 
     Wood River, Illinois, as the point of departure of the Lewis 
     and Clark Expedition;
       (2) expresses its support for the people of Illinois in 
     recognizing the site as a site of monumental historical 
     impact; and
       (3) calls on the President, the Secretary of the Interior, 
     the Director of the National Park Service, other public 
     officials, and the people of the United States to support and 
     promote the site near Wood River, Illinois, as the starting 
     point of 1 of the greatest journeys in American history.

                          ____________________