Thursday June 12 -- Our first trip was to the Jefferson National Expansion Museum (the Arch) in St. Louis. this great museum tells not only the Lewis and Clark story, but the Oregon Trail, Indian Relations, Soldiers, and Transportation. Many of our group saw the great IMAX movie. On the bus we saw Monument to the Dream, the film showing the remarkable contruction techniques used to build this monument.

Lewis and Clark saw plenty of these guys. Then it was on to St. Charles for lunch and a tour of this town founded in 1769 by a French trapper. Like many other towns St. charles claims to be the true start of the expedition. To some extent I agree, because Clark brought the boats upriver from Camp Dubois, while Lewis traveled overland from St. Louis to meet the party several days later. Here they picked up their last two men, Pierre Cruzatte and Francois LaBiche. They also went to a ball, a church service and received a great send-off from the town. One of the new things here is the wonderful statue shown below.

In the evening it was more orientation where Don & Tom continued to lay out the rest of the trip. They promised lots of surprises and humor, and delivered with a skit about a guy, William Cannon, who wanted to join the expedition. When Captain Lewis  (Don Popejoy, coordinator) refused he said he would go on the second trip. That second trip would be John Jacob Astor's venture beginning six years later, and William Cannon was one of that party.