Rocky- Lewis and Clark Pups

Since my hosts live nearby, I started my day with a visit to the statue of my great ancestor, Seaman, in Seaside, Oregon. The town of Seaside is at the end of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. What a hero Seaman was! Will I ever be that big? Then, it was off to Knappton Cove!

The Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and the adjoining Betty Strong Encounter is a great place to visit. A non-profit institution, it was built and is sustained by Missouri River Historical Development, Inc. (MRHD). The Center spotlights the expedition’s adventures in the present-day Sioux City area.

Today I went to Iowa to visit Lewis and Clark State Park and experience one of the many sites that the Corps of Discovery stopped at during their adventure. Here I am getting spoiled by some of the young park visitors. They are learning about the expedition too! We got to see lots of cool stuff inside this building where we learned about what Lewis and Clark saw and did while they were here.

Rocky here! I’m lending a hand at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site! The first thing I did was help Ranger Sierra greet visitors. Another ranger built me a travois that I wore all day. Dogs like me used to help the Hidatsa and Mandan people carry heavy loads with travois. They piled up these small sleds with wood used for farming tools, building earthlodges, and more!

What an experience I had at the Harrison County Welcome Center and Historical Village! Even though this wasn’t a stop for Meriwether Lewis & William Clark, they helped pave the way for later generations of people, who were the pioneers I learned about while on my visit at the Historical Village. This is a great place to learn about the Loess Hills and the Lincoln Highway, which was the first transcontinental highway!

DeSoto and Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuges are two sites along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. These refuges are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I love the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because they help conserve habitat for my fellow wild animals. Both DeSoto and Boyer Chute were areas where my ancestor Seaman, along with Lewis and Clark, stopped to camp and rest during their long journey up the Missouri River.

The Hitchcock Nature Center is one site along the 3,700 mile Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Even though this park is pretty far off the Missouri River it is still an important stop along my journey on the Lewis & Clark trail. The Loess Hills are an important land-form that stretches the entire western side of the state of Iowa and the unique hills were written about by Meriwether Lewis & William Clark during their time on this stretch of the river.

The Washington County Historical Association-Museum is one site along the 3,700 mile Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Located in the old Fort Calhoun State Bank, this museum works to teach visitors of all ages about both Lewis and Clark and the history of Washington County, Nebraska. They have wonderful, unique exhibits, including one on Lewis and Clark’s first council meeting with the Otoe-Missouria tribe at nearby Fort Atkinson.

What a day on the bluff— the Council Bluff at Fort Atkinson! This site is where Lewis and Clark had their first meeting, our first council, with the Oto and Missouria tribes. At the suggestion of William Clark, a fort was established here in 1820.