Undaunted commerce- Lewis and Clark-

Millions of tourists expected at Montana’s Lewis and Clark sites

It took Meriwether Lewis about 2 1/2 years to prepare the Corps of Discovery for its epic journey. Montanans have spent three years, and expect they’ll need every available minute, to brace for the bicentennial.

By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian

"Three years back, the guest book at Lolo Pass between Memorial Day and Labor Day had 17,000 people sign who specifically said they were following the Lewis and Clark trail," said David Purviance, head of the "Core of Discovery" office at the University of Montana. "If you had 17,000 people in one spot five years before the start of the main events, what’s the multiplier?"

One guess from the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research is 8.9 million extra people in the prime bicentennial years of 2005 and 2006. That’s an extra 20,915 a day between June 1 and Oct. 31, 2005.

Down at Travelers’ Rest State Park in Lolo, there is no statue or banner marking the spot where some of the most crucial expedition decisions were made. In fact, the conclusive authenticity of the campsite came in a trace of mercury vapor from an archaeological dig.

The vapor was proof that Lewis, Clark and their team made a latrine there and endured some of their standard medical treatment: Dr. Rush’s mercury pills, which were prescribed for everything from headaches to syphilis.

Some of those pills may be on display as the state park gathers its exhibits and memorabilia. But it’s the ground itself, a 15-acre former farm mostly screened from civilization by cottonwood thickets, that has focused the attention.

"Until this site was identified and preserved, there was nothing really to hang on to in Lolo," said Loren Flynn, director of the state park. "Now there’s a destination – a reason for stopping other than a sign hanging on a highway. I’m seeing a lot more people in Lolo saying ‘Ah, this really is going to happen.’ "

Travelers’ Rest is one of just two places on the entire Lewis and Clark trail with observable proof of their physical presence. The other is William Clark’s initials on Pompeys Pillar near Billings. They are more than a New England "George Washington slept here" spot, but less than a Little Bighorn Battlefield.

"If all we’re talking about is the four-day camping trip that happened here, then 2007 will roll around and it’ll all be gone," Flynn said. "We’re trying to help people get a feeling of what it was like 200 or 2,000 years ago. And we’re carving it out of an existing urban area – that’s one of the challenges."

Great Falls already has the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center, where all the museum-style exhibits are set up. Travelers’ Rest is looking more toward interpretive trails, demonstrations of skills and crafts, living history, guided tours and opportunities to simply listen to the wind in the cottonwoods.

"We are the anti-Lewis and Clark slept here site," Flynn said. "That doesn’t engage your visitor. But we’re different from the interpretive center. We didn’t feel that was appropriate here."

The state park will take part in the bicentennial kickoff with an open house Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. The event is free to the public, and will feature living history conversations with Lewis and Clark reenactors David Jolles and Ritchie Doyle. The turnoff to the state park is on Mormon Creek Road, just past the Highway 12 traffic light on Highway 93.

Lewis and Clark and the American Indians they encountered both had one big question on their minds: What have you got for us? The tribes wanted to know what the expedition had for trade goods or river tolls. The explorers wanted knowledge of river corridors, trails and resources the overflowing nation behind them could take advantage of.

Missoulians would do well to turn that on its head as the Corps of Discovery bicentennial surges toward us: What have we got for you?

"This journey they went on was so long, the actual day-to-day elements seem to be most intriguing," said Kimberly Roth, Southgate Mall’s marketing director and president of the new Missoula Convention and Visitors Bureau. "When people think of Lewis and Clark, they think about the relationship with the American Indians, the landscape, how they traveled, how they made their canoes how they made their medicines.

"The tourist industry needs to know 10 key facts about Lewis and Clark, particularly what they did in Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley. You don’t want that hotel concierge to say, ‘Oh, I don’t know much about that."

Missoula has a double benefit in its Lewis and Clark connections. The explorers made some of their most significant decisions here, in one of the few historic sites conveniently surrounded now by hotels, campgrounds, museums, shops and good roads. And they made those decisions toward the end of their four-year journey. That means Missoula has a bit more time to watch the bicentennial planning of other places and learn from those experiences.

"Since the kickoff is happening in January at Monticello (Thomas Jefferson’s home in Virginia), I think you’re going to see that momentum of interest grow," Roth said. But a lot of it’s going to happen in 2006. That’s when they came through the downtown (Missoula) area along the rivers."

Don’t look at those extra four years as a breather, though. The Missoula Convention and Visitors Bureau has scheduled a training session Jan. 11 from 9 a.m. to noon in the University Center ballroom for business people and other interested folks to learn what travelers are looking for. Roth said the session will also help the MCVB gauge the community’s Lewis and Clark awareness.

The year 2003 itself will be bustling in Missoula. The University of Montana has its Confluence of Cultures symposium in May. Southgate Mall is bringing in three major displays between July 25 and Sept. 21: "Discovering the Rivers of Lewis and Clark" traveling exhibit; the NASA Earth Observing Project satellite maps of the journey (based at the University of Montana); and a Montana Historical Society display called "Documenting the Corps of Discovery" featuring maps, journals, artwork and other archives of the adventure.

"We’re trying to create an avenue for people to discover Missoula," Roth said. "Right now, we’re the place where they stop to get gas and grab a soda and leave. I’m kind of feeling this first year, we’re not going to get the huge onslaught of people the eastern states will get. This year will be our learning opportunity year."

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