FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  July 13, 2005

CONTACT:  Nancy Tystad Koupal, (605) 773-3458

Rediscovered Lewis and Clark transcript published

PIERRE, S.D. -- A previously unpublished transcript of a meeting between Lewis and Clark Expedition leader William Clark and Teton Sioux representatives in 1807 and two articles on the relationship between American Indians and the United States government are included in the Spring 2005 issue of South Dakota History, the quarterly magazine of the South Dakota State Historical Society.

The transcript, a “Dakota Resources” feature, is the earliest known record of Teton attitudes and interests expressed in their own words. Harry H. Anderson edited the text and recounts other peacekeeping efforts by Clark and Meriwether Lewis in “The Diplomacy of Lewis and Clark among the Teton Sioux, 1804–1807.” Anderson is a retired historian with a longstanding interest in the Sioux Indians.

Jerome A. Greene reviews the final weeks of the region’s 1877 army campaign in “Out with a Whimper: The Little Missouri Expedition and the Close of the Great Sioux War.” U.S. troops under the direction of Gen. Nelson A. Miles pursued Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne Indians during the summer of 1877, driving the Indians from their traditional grounds and opening the way for non-Indian settlement. Greene is a research historian for the National Park Service and has written several books on the Indian wars.

Elliott Coues, a renowned ornithologist and army surgeon, is featured in “Dakota Images.” In 1893, Coues published a revised edition of the Lewis and Clark journals in which he expanded on the scientific information recorded by the explorers. Brad Tennant, history professor at Northern State University in Aberdeen, provides the profile of Coues.

South Dakota History is a benefit of membership in the South Dakota State Historical Society. Memberships and individual copies of the magazine may be purchased by contacting the Society at 900 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501-2217; by phone at (605) 773-6009; or through the Society’s Web site at www.sdhistory.org.

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The South Dakota State Historical Society, an office of the Department of Tourism and State Development, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call (605) 773-3458 or visit www.sdhistory.org for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call (605) 394-1936 for more information.