Department of Tourism
For Immediate Release: July 6, 2001
Contact: Mary Stadick Smith, (605) 773-3301

NATIONAL LEWIS AND CLARK MEETING COMING TO PIERRE

For the first time in history, the National Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation is holding its annual meeting in South Dakota. The meeting takes place Aug. 5-8 at the Ramkota RiverCentre in Pierre. An estimated 600 Lewis and Clark enthusiasts from across the nation will attend.

The four-day meeting will feature sessions led by nationally known experts. Clay Jenkinson, a renowned humanities scholar, will portray Thomas Jefferson. Dr. James P. Ronda, author of "Lewis and Clark Among the Indians," is the featured banquet speaker. Dr. Gary E. Moulton, who edited the "Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition," will speak during the dedication at the Lewis and Clark Information Center at Chamberlain. Moulton’s 13-volume edition was completed in 1999, after 20 years of work.

Other sessions at the conference will include discussions of the death of Meriwether Lewis; the culture of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota; and sites named by the Lewis and Clark expedition.

The meeting is open to members of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation only, but it’s easy to join. For information about becoming a member of the foundation, contact the Pierre Convention and Tourism Bureau at 1-800-962-2034 or the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation at (406) 454-1234. www.lewisandclark.org.

Others organizing the annual meeting are the South Dakota Office of History and the South Dakota Department of Tourism.

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