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Discovering Idaho: The World of Lewis and Clark
Move over, Bia-Dekape, here come Lewis and Clark! When the Museum of Idaho
opens its second season February 17, 2004, the Museum's recently named
Columbian Mammoth will move aside for an exciting new exhibit, Discovering
Idaho: The World of Lewis and Clark.
A Shoshone Indian Village of the type
Lewis and Clark might have seen as they descended Lemhi Pass into Idaho
is the focal point of the exhibit.
Other displays cover everything from rivers the expedition traversed on its
way to the Pacific to a wide variety of Native American artifacts
representative of the period, and much more. With over 10,000 sq. ft. of
displays and information, this is the largest Lewis and Clark display in
the country.
Why the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls, when Lewis and Clark never made
their way this far south in Idaho? "It's true we're not an official trail
site," says MOI Program Director Nick Gailey, "but we are the largest
museum in Idaho and we're located just off Interstate 15, one of the major
routes to many parts of the Lewis and Clark Trail. We're excited about
our role in helping visitors understand the enormous impact the Expedition
had on the entire American West and what an amazing undertaking it was."
On hand for the public grand opening of the exhibit will be Peyton (Bud) Clark,
the great-great-great grandson of William Clark. Descended from
William Clark's third son, George Rogers Hancock Clark, he is an avid
student, collector and exhibitor of Lewis and Clark and westward settlement
memorabilia. He is loaning the museum over 90 artifacts from the period,
including Wm. Clark's belt knife with sheath, original documents bearing
the signature of Wm. Clark and an original Virginia Land Warrant issued to
George Rogers Clark (Wm. Clark's brother) in 1780 for his Revolutionary
War service, and a George Rogers Clark Land Grant Survey Map and
accompanying sale document. Other items in the collection include
firearms, swords and knives, camp equipment and tools and medical equipment.
Visitors will be greeted in the lobby by an 8-1/2 ft. bronze of Sacagawea
and her infant son, Jean Baptiste, created by Glenna Goodacre, the sculptor
whose design for the $1 gold coin honoring Sacagawea was chosen by the
U.S. Mint. Randy'L Teton, a Shoshone woman from the Fort Hall reservation
who was studying at the University of New Mexico was selected as the model
for both.
The main floor gallery will house the Shoshone Village, complete with an
18 ft. tipi covered with brain-tanned buffalo hide. The tipi is being
made on the Crow Reservation in Montana especially for the exhibit. A
sweat house, willow fish weir, baskets and other period pieces, including
a Mandan buffalo robe, quilted warrior shirt and woman's buckskin dress
will also be part of the village exhibit.
Near the village will be the vessels of Lewis and Clark, including a
scaled-down model of the keel boat the expedition used, also being built
especially for the exhibit, a 35 ft. dugout canoe, a pirogue, and a bull boat.
Upstairs is the traveling exhibit "Discovering the Rivers of Lewis and Clark"
presented by American Rivers, an official conservation partner of the
National Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Council. The exhibit is co-sponsored
by the U.S. Army and The History Channel, with content donated by the
National Geographic. It will only be at the Museum of Idaho from
Feb. 17 - June 23, 2004, when it will move on to Lewis and Clark State
College in Lewiston. Visitors to the exhibit walk the length of the
Lewis and Clark Trail, from St. Louis to the Pacific, learning as they
go about the rich river life the explorers encountered during their
expedition. It also includes a mini-theater showing video shorts by
the History Channel, two iMac touch-screen computers containing 4 hours
of interactive content and three audio stations. Kids will enjoy exploring
a reproduction of the prow of Lewis & Clark's keelboat.
Animals of the Lewis and Clark period will be found throughout the museum,
featuring many from the museum's own collection. An elk, grizzly bear,
wolverine, Columbian ground squirrel and others will be on loan from the
International Wildlife Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
Seeds of Discovery, the plants of Lewis and Clark, will be displayed in
photographs and collections of pressed plants, along with journal
descriptions of the plants as seen by the Expedition. Packets containing
seeds for many of the plants the Expedition found on their journey will
be for sale in the Museum Store. Visitors will be encouraged to take
them home and plant their own Lewis and Clark Heritage Garden.
Nationally recognized artist and sculptor Roy Reynolds, one of the official
Lewis and Clark artists, has prepared 6 original paintings of the
Expedition that will be on display for the first time. He is also the
artist who sculpted the mountain man statue on Memorial Drive in Idaho Falls.
A bugling bull elk and a bald eagle catching a fish, life-size steel
sculptures by Meridian, Idaho sculptor Bernie Jestrabek-Hart offer an
impressive contrast to the more traditional art on display.
Idaho's U. S. Senator Larry Craig is loaning a replica of
Meriwether Lewis' traveling desk and from the Library of Congress are
coming copies of the original maps taken on the Expedition and those
completed upon their return.
The historical exhibits in the Carnegie Library wing of the Museum will
also be open to the public, offering a further look at the rich natural
and cultural history of southeastern Idaho, including Eagle Rock, a
re-creation of part of the town that would become Idaho Falls. The
library, an Andrew Carnegie-endowed building, was completed in 1916,
and served Idaho Falls until the mid-70's. Placed on the National
Register of Historical Places in 1983, it sat vacant until 1985, when
the City of Idaho Falls leased it to the Bonneville County Historical
Society for a museum.
The Museum Store will carry a wide variety of Lewis and Clark
commemorative items, including "Going Along With Lewis and Clark,"
published by Montana Magazine, a visual treatment of the Expedition
for grades 4-up with color maps, sketches, paintings and photographs.
In addition to Bud Clark, speakers planned for the Exhibit include
Randy'L Teton, Bob Weir of Bob Weir Collectibles, a representative
from American Rivers, representatives of the Idaho Humanities Council,
and others to be named. Dates and topics will be announced at
later dates.
And for those inquiring minds who want to know - yes, Bia-Dekape
will be back. The Columbian Mammoth is a permanent resident of the
Museum and will return September 15 once Lewis and Clark are gone.
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