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Meriwether Lewis started his journey in Pittsburgh: he ordered a keelboat be made, recruited several men, and purchased and organized supplies for the long journey ahead.

The O'odham word for house is "ki" (kee). Melhok (pronounced moo' ro) is the word for the plant known in Spanish and English as "ocotillo." The particular structure that you see here is a modern construction of a traditional O'odham dwelling, made of mesquite timbers, ocotillo sticks, and mud.

A history of how Major Bradford's Company of the Rifle Regiment established the first Fort Smith.

The Grasslands Nature Trail is a 0.75-mile (1.2 km) loop trail with paved access to the grasslands and dunes of the island, and provides benches interspersed throughout the loop. Among the abundant dune grasses and wildflowers of the coastal prairie, hikers may also spot ground squirrels, keeled earless lizards, crested caracaras, and a variety of other wildlife from the trail.

Fort Mandan is a High Potential Historic Site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. On November 2, 1804, the expedition came to the place where they built their winter quarters. Lewis wrote, “This place we have named Fort Mandan in honour of our Neighbours.”

William Clark and many of the men who joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1803–1804 just east of St. Louis, at Camp Dubois.

Meriwether Lewis stopped here on his journey west. During his visit, he showed off his new air gun, and someone got shot.

Today the lake looks wide and calm, but the Arkansas River still flows through it with a good current. Landmarks mentioned in journals and ship logbooks from the Trail of Tears are still known to locals and one of the site exhibits near the boat launch highlights local places then and now. There is also space dedicated to the Trail of Tears inside and behind the visitor center on the overlook deck.

Mackinaw boats and keeled boats were among the craft used to navigate the Missouri River in the 19th century.

Besides protecting the town from attacks, Fort Fayatte also served to safely guard the stores of ammunition kept here for the western posts. It’s for this reason that Meriwether Lewis had goods, supplies, and munitions from both Philadelphia and Harpers Ferry delivered to and retained here while the keelboat was being constructed.

In a beautiful park right along the banks of the Missouri stands an impressive 20,000-square-foot Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center where visitors will enjoy an impressive collection of permanent exhibits that focus on the Expedition’s story from July to September 1804. At the center of the story is the death and burial of Sergeant Charles Floyd on August 20, 1804.

To tell visitors the story of the Camp River Dubois and the newly formed Corps of Discovery, the 14,000-square-foot visitor’s center presents the often-untold story of the Illinois portion of the Expedition. Construction of the center began in October 2000 in an area similar to that of the original Camp River Dubois on the south side of the Wood River, where the men of the Corps lived from December 1803 to May 1804.

Travel to St. Charles, Missouri and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time to the early 19th century. The original state capital of Missouri, the picturesque town is filled with living history. Located about 25 miles northwest of downtown St. Louis, St. Charles played a significant role in the Lewis and Clark story. One of the highest ranked attractions in St. Charles is the Lewis & Clark Boat House and Museum, located right along the Missouri River.

Sunday, April 7, 1805 was a “double departure day” in the timeline of the Corps of Discovery. Captains Lewis and Clark prepared to depart Fort Mandan and to send back plant and animal collections, including a live prairie dog.

Have you ever been part of a group project that felt more like a solo job? Namely your job? Has a grade or evaluation ever depended on a group or team where not everyone contributes the same? Sometimes working with a team means managing people with a healthy dose of patience. Meriwether Lewis experienced this exact scenario in the late summer of 1803.

"Captain Lewis Will Give Us Accounts of New Things Only" interpretive plaque. Part of the audio tour for the Interpretive Garden at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Visitor Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

In August 1804, the Corps of Discovery moved up the Missouri River along what is today western Iowa and eastern Nebraska. The party camped on August 9 in a broad, wooded area where the river made a tight bend. The Loess Hills could be spotted to the east whenever there were gaps in the trees. This area is now Lewis and Clark State Park in Iowa.

The Trail of Tears involved mile after mile of hard travel through miserable conditions. Yet detachments bound for Indian Territory did more than just walk. Although time-honored methods like wagons, keelboats, flatboats, and ferries played major roles, some of the technology used to transport Cherokees on the Trail of Tears was actually quite new.

Between 1837 and 1839, four Cherokee detachments utilized eight keelboats for their journeys to Indian Territory Keelboats took their name from their construction— long, narrow boats built with a keel providing stability. They typically ranged from 40 to 80 feet long and 8 to 12 feet wide, and came to a point at the bow and stern When fully loaded, the average keelboat drew 2 feet of water, which made it ideal for travel in shallow waters.