GROUP OFFERS THOUGHTS ON EXPEDITION'S BICENTENNIAL

Cape Girardeau is in the perfect position to kick off celebrations for the bicentennial anniversary of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's expedition along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, area historians say.

An informal three-person committee formed to mark the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark's expedition asked the city's Historic Preservation Commission for its support Wednesday.

The committee Dr. Frank Nickell, Jane Randol Jackson and Linda Nash hopes to develop its membership by late spring and seek more ideas from the community.

"We would be the first city to celebrate their trip down the Ohio and up the Mississippi," said Nickell of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University. "We could really call attention to this. There would be a lot of hoopla."

A bicentennial commission is planning a statewide and nationwide celebration, but Cape Girardeau must also decide how it wants to commemorate the anniversary and create a legacy for the future, he said.

Between 1804 and 1806 Lewis and Clark traveled the inland rivers in search of an overland route to the Pacific Ocean.

Their trip was sponsored by President Thomas Jefferson. The expedition stopped in Cape Girardeau for a horse race, picnic and visit with city founder Louis Lorimier.

Some area high school teachers support the idea of a re-creation of the meeting with Lorimier or constructing a replica of his trading post, house and government offices as an interpretive center.

Nash, who teaches history at Jackson High School, is a staunch supporter of the idea. She is also a self-proclaimed "expert" on Lorimier's life.

Journals of Lewis and Clark detail the meeting and "we have the story of what happened," she said. To mark the celebration, people could re-create that meeting and dress in period costume.

Nash would like a replica built near the site of Lorimier's house near Old St. Vincent's Church.

"We have three years to accomplish this," she said.