The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1926-09-16
BY ELMO SCOTT WATSON


"a NE hundred and twenty years ago
l. 81 this month the little village of st.
kE Louis was afame with excitement.
r. . hOrseman had ridden furiously
EE$r W. from Fort Bellefontaine to carry.
NSSsSxx aAsiid some wonderful news A little fleet
E of boats, carrying party of men
Ms Aak kSlI who had long been given up for
EsSSSsAscI II dead, was sweeping down the Big
kk*sszzzSz Muddy and would be pulling
Lg up to the water front. And this was
the scene which folIowed--the de-
scription is from the pen of Emerson Hough:
Laughing, talking calculating, weeping in
their joy, the people of st. Louis hurried out to
meet the men whose voyage meant so much AT
last they them coming, the paddles flashing
in unison in the horny hands which tirelessly
drove the boats along the river They could see
them-men with long boards, clad in leggings of
elk hide, moccasins of buffalo and deer; their
head-dresses those OF the Indians their long hair
braided. And see in the prov of the foremost
craft sat two men, side by side-Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark" Two young Virginfans
had returned from their magnificent adventure
On that same day, September %, 1906, resi-
dent of st. Louis sat down to write to the Balti
more Federal Gazette these words, when they
arrived three cheers were fired. They really
have the appearance of Robinson Crusoe-dressed
entirely in buckskin" On that same day Meri-
wether Lewis wrote to President Jefferson the
first report of their expedition that he had been
able to send in year and half. Here is what
he said "In obedience to your orders we have
penetrated the continent Of North America to
the Pacific ocean and sufficiently explored the
interior of the country to affirm that we have dis
covered the most practicable communication
which does exist across the continent by means
of the navigable branches Of the Missouri and
Columbia rivers" modest report, that! Could
he have looked into the future he might have
added I'VE have bIazed the trail for civilization
hall wv A..
gon country to your Louisiana Purchase We
have given to nation the rich territory Of the
Pacific Northwest and California"
Despite the proverbial ingratitude of republics
1t must be said to the credit of the United States
that in the case of Lewis and Clark, at least
their achievement brought the reward it so richly
deserved. Their return to Washington was a
triumphal procession. They were guests Of the
nation, feted and honored everywhere Captain
Lewis made governor of the new Territory
of Louisiana. Captain Clark was made a general
and agent for all the Indian tribes in the West
Besides these commissions, congress granted
them 1000 acres of land.
Nor have these valorous young captains been
forgotten during the hundred years that have
interviewed since their exploit Cities, counties
and automobile trails bear their names. Their
memory was honored at the Louisiana Purchase
exposition in st. Louis in 1904 and when Port.
land, Ore, held an exposition a little later 1t
was named the Lewis and Clark exposition, and
their names were on the lips Of every American.
Last year, at the inspiration of Ralph Budd,
president Of the Great Northern railway the
Upper-Missouri Historical expedition, composed
of a number of eminent historians visited five
historical sites in the West One of them was at
the town of Meriwether in Glacier county, Mont.
where tall shaft had been erected to the mem
DRY of Meriwether Lewis, concentrating the
farthest north point reached by the Lewis and
Clark expedition A deed for the site OF this
monument and the monument has recently been
presented to the state of Montana by President
Budd and it is now state property. Last year,
also, the Bitter Root chapter Of the Daughters
of the American Revolution unveiled tablet
at Travellers Rest creek Lolo Mont, where
the Lewis and Clark expedition camped on Sep
TENDER 10, 1905 Montana proposes to pay further
honor to the pathfnders and at the present time
several cities competing for the privilege of
being the site Of state memorial to the ex-
pIorers authorized at the last session Of the
Montana legislature.
This year the idea Of the Upper Missouri River
Historical expedition repeated In Column
bia River Historical expedition, sponsored by the
governors of the six Northwest states and Presi