Thursday, June 26, 2008
Lewis and
Clark’s understanding of the Columbia River based, in part, upon their reading
of Canadian Fur Trader and explorer Alexander Mackenzie’s Voyages from
Montreal. Recounting Mackenzie’s two trans-continental voyages (to the Artic in
1789 and the Pacific in 1793, was veritable
the call to arms for the young US and its President, Thomas Jefferson.
Jefferson was prompted to generate the Lewis and Clark Expedition by the
strategic flourish contained at the end of Mackenzie’s time. Mr. Nicandri’s
talk suggests that the greatest moment of disappointment for the Corp of
Discovery was not at the Continental Divide, but rather with Clark at the forks
of the Columbia River in 1805.
The
presentation concludes with a discussion of the Oregon Boundary settlement.
David L. Nicandri is in his fourth term as an Inquiring
Minds presenter and is director of the Washington State Historical Society. His
love of history has led him to be an active member on several boards. He is
also executive editor of Columbia: The Magazine of
Northwest History.