CHARTING A COURSE FOR A NEW ADVENTURE

When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began recruiting men for the Corps of Discovery that would open up the American West nearly 200 years ago, lots of people wanted to go.

"It was like going to the moon would be for us," said Jane Jackson, a member of the local Lewis and Clark bicentennial committee.

Gentlemen explorers need not have applied. "They needed frontiersmen, men who were extremely tough and disciplined," Jackson said.

Similar people will be needed to build an approximation of Cape Girardeau founder Don Louis Lorimier's Red House, to participate in an archaeological dig of the site the Red House was believed to stand on, and to help re-enact the famous explorers' arrival here. All are part of the plan to commemorate the expedition's stop in Cape Girardeau.

The Missouri Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission soon will make $250,000 in grants available to communities, schools and organizations that want to create projects commemorating the spirit of the Corps of Discovery. Jackson said the local committee will apply for funding.

The committee will meet Monday to consider a design for the cabin worked out by Steve Strom and architect Ron Grojean. Strom has experience building a log cabin and recently spent time in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., learning about the vertical log construction Lorimier undoubtedly used.

Though the Lewis and Clark Trail officially begins where the explorers entered the Missouri River and ends at the Pacific Ocean, the rest of the country won't be left out of the bicentennial celebration to begin in 2003. Locales such as Cape Girardeau, where the explorers' journal records a stop, are considered as much a part of the expedition as the western route.

"Some important historical events occurred along the way," says Jim Crabtree, executive director of the Missouri Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission.

After leaving President Thomas Jefferson in Washington, D.C., Lewis had a keel boat built in Pittsburgh before picking up Clark in Louisville. They followed the Ohio River to the confluence with the Mississippi at the current site of Cairo, Ill., before heading up the Mississippi. After arriving here, Lewis dined with Lorimier and his family while Clark stayed with the boats at Cape Rock.

Crabtree said one of the highlights of the state plans taking shape will be an exhibit of Lewis and Clark artifacts being organized by the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis. "It will be the premiere exhibit of artifacts from the expedition," he said.

The artifacts are being collected from around the world and include many items that were given away to foreign ambassadors, kings and queens, Crabtree said.

The exhibit will begin in St. Louis and tour to four other museums in the U.S.

The mission of the bicentennial commission is to rekindle the spirit of discovery and achievement that made the original expedition a success. A number of national re-enactment groups are planning to retrace the explorers' journey.

More information about the Corps of Discovery Grant Reimbursement Program is available by calling the Missouri Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission at (573) 522-9019 or visiting the commission's Web site at www.lewisandclark.missouri.org.