Lewis and Clark show goes on in new form

The bicentennial commemoration of Lewis and Clark's journey across the uncharted United States continues today as the traveling exhibit "Corps of Discovery II: 200 Years into the Future" comes to Westfield Shoppingtown West Park.

The exhibit features three tents with multimedia presentations and speakers, as well as a miniature replica of the keel boat the Corps of Discovery used.

"We're going to tell the expanded story of the expedition," said Larry Larson of the Missouri Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission. "We don't just stop with their visit to this area, we talk about the effects of their stop here on the rest of the trip."

Re-enactors playing the roles of Corps of Discovery members led various activities during a stop in Cape Girardeau last weekend.

One of the mall exhibit's main features will be the Tent of Many Voices, a 35-foot-tall tent with a capacity of about 400 people. The heated tent will feature presentations from American Indian speakers.

They'll present information about the American Indian culture and the role of the Native Americans in Lewis and Clark's journey.

"Our Native American presenters are very popular," said Philip Wu with the National Park Service. "They wear full tribal dress and paint, and some do tribal dances."

The variety of perspectives provided by the speakers brings together all the voices of Lewis and Clark's journey, Larson said.

Another tent will feature an audio tour in which visitors are given headphones that will play information corresponding to panels on the walls. Scripts of the narration are offered for the hearing impaired, said Philip Wu with the National Park Service.

The presentations will focus largely on educating children, Larson said. Programs will be provided exclusively for young people from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day.

The traveling exhibit has been on the road since January, and Cape Girardeau is its 23rd stop. It basically follows the path that Lewis and Clark took on their journey, Wu said.

The exhibit takes two days to set up, with about 10 people working on the construction, many of them volunteers.

Corps of Discovery II will be in Cape Girardeau until Thursday. It will stop touring briefly in mid-December before beginning again in March at St. Louis.

msanders@semissourian.com

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