[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    LEWIS AND CLARK HISTORIC TRAIL TECHNICAL CORRECTNESS ACT OF 1999

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                            HON. BRIAN BAIRD

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 18, 1999

  Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to introduce legislation that 
will correct a long-standing historical inaccuracy dealing with the 
Lewis and Clark National Trail System. Currently, the Lewis and Clark 
National Trail designation reads that the expedition traveled ``from 
Wood River, Illinois to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon.'' My 
colleagues, unfortunately, this does not tell the whole story. My 
legislation would amend the designation to include Washington State 
along with Oregon as the end point of this important journey in 
American history.
  The journey of Lewis and Clark is one of the most important events in 
American history. That is why it is imperative not only that the story 
of Lewis and Clark be told, but that their story be told with accuracy 
and historical correctness. Unfortunately, the current Lewis and Clark 
Historic Trail designation fails to recognize the important events that 
took place in Washington State during the expedition.
  When President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis, and William 
Clark on their now famous expedition, he sent them with many goals in 
mind. Over the next four years, the Corps of Discovery would travel 
thousands of miles, experiencing lands, rivers and peoples that no 
Americans ever had before. But the single overriding imperative of the 
entire enterprise was to find a navigable water route to the Pacific 
Ocean.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that the Corps of Discovery 
accomplished that objective on November 15, 1805--and they did so in 
one of the most scenic places on earth, Pacific County, Washington.
  Theirs was not an easy journey; it took great skill, tremendous 
perseverance and immense dedication. There are hundreds of events that 
took place along the way that tested each of these attributes. One of 
the most important of these watershed events took place on the 
Washington State side of the Columbia River, on November 24, 1805.
  With little food, rotting clothes, and winter soon approaching, the 
group huddled to decide where to camp for the winter. The pressing 
question: should they stay on the north side of the river in what would 
later become my home state of Washington, or should they risk a tricky 
river crossing to find a more sheltered spot on the south side of the 
river? Because there were these two differing ideas about where to 
spend the winter, Captain Lewis and Captain Clark allowed the entire 
party to vote on where to camp. What is important to remember is that 
among those who were allowed to vote was York, a African-American 
slave, and Sacajawea, a young Native-American woman.
  This exercise of democracy took place more than 50 years before the 
abolition of slavery and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, more 
than 100 years before the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment 
which gave women the right to vote, and nearly 160 years before the 
passage of the Voting Rights Act which extended these liberties to even 
more Americans
  Mr. Speaker, as I am sure you are aware, the bicentennial Lewis and 
Clark's famous journey is rapidly approaching. The bicentennial is 
going to be of great importance both culturally and economically to my 
home state, and those impacts will be felt in many small towns and big 
cities all along the Lewis and Clark trail.
  Knowing the important part that Southwest Washington played almost 
200 years ago in this journey, I want to make sure that the National 
Park Service documents are historically accurate and complete. My 
legislation will help ensure that outcome. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I 
urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this simple legislation, 
the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail Technical Corrections Act of 1999.

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