Jackson travels west for Lewis and Clark bicentennial event

~ Participants include descendant of 19th-century explorer William Clark.

The only remaining physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark trail is William Clark's signature on a sandstone pillar near Billings, Mont.

On Tuesday, Cape Girardeau County Archive Center director Jane Randol Jackson watched a re-enactment of the event that took place 200 years ago -- Bud Clark, a descendant of William Clark, scratched his name into a sandstone plate at Pompey's Pillar National Monument in Pompey's Pillar, Mont.

The re-enactment was part of the national Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Celebration. The celebration is a series of events taking place across the country to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase.

Jackson was actively involved in Lewis and Clark bicentennial events taking place in the Cape Girardeau area.

Each event marks a significant date in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Jackson was one of about 15,000 people who attended the four-day event, "Clark on the Yellowstone River."

"The story is that Lewis and Clark divided up their party at one point along the expedition," Jackson said. "Lewis went up the Missouri River and Clark went up the Yellowstone River."

Re-enactors portrayed the expedition on the Yellowstone River during the event, Jackson said. "It's so wonderful to be with other people who love Lewis and Clark and who want to know their story," she said.

The event also featured various American Indian tribes and authors who wrote about the expedition.

Another Lewis and Clark bicentennial event will take place Sept. 22 to 24 in St. Louis and commemorate the return of Lewis and Clark.

Jackson said she has organized two cruises on the Grampa Woo to the Lewis and Clark celebration in St. Louis.

For more information, contact Jackson at 204-2331.