Travelers' Rest hummed with Lewis and Clark groupies during a ceremony to honor the vast corps of volunteers who helped bring the amazing adventure to life for Montana's bicentennial events.
In a fitting end to a decade's worth of planning and to successfully pulling off 19 days of public events, the volunteers wrapped up their run by making their own history and have a chapter to add to the expedition's legacy.
In 1960, a spot at the confluence of Lolo Creek and the Bitterroot River was designated by the Department of the Interior as the place, but thanks to the tireless work of a handful of locals who drummed up interest, historians and archaeologists, the original campsite was located about two miles west of the river, where Travelers' Rest State Park is now located along Highway 12.
On Sunday, for the first time in history, a national landmark was moved, and the real location of Travelers' Rest rededicated as the spot where the expedition camped in 1805 and 1806, and where Indians had camped for centuries before the explorers arrived.
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer thanked those gathered for their hard work and vision to help preserve the area, which will help future generations learn the stories connected to the lush meadow.
Travelers' Rest served an important role for the explorers, but it was not their discovery, Schweitzer said.
The area had long served as the shopping mall of its day before Lewis and Clark showed up.
Indians gathered in the valley to trade goods like dried fish and shells for a good 10,000 years before “Lewis and Clark stumbled their way” to it, he said.
When the explorers arrived and wandered through the mountain ranges, they found a place that had already been named by the people who had long called the area home.
“Let us remember there were people here 10,000 years before Lewis and Clark,” Schweitzer said. And to remember, he said, the people who made the park happen - like the Holt and Deschamps families who owned the land before it was known to be the historical campground and then donated the property for the sake of the park.
Ritchie Doyle, who began playing the role of William Clark in 1996, said he's not hanging up his costume just yet.
The last time will likely be in September when grand finale celebrations commemorating the return of the expedition are held.
“I'm not disappointed that it's over - there's a lot left in the wake - curriculum in schools, interpretative centers and signs, books and videos,” he said.
“Of course, I have a William Clark support group,” he said. “There are 13 official Lewis and Clarks in our country and I am one of 13.
“We've helped each other - those of the Clark's who have met up - tips on our costumes and our hair color.
“When I began playing Clark, I went with my normal brown hair, but soon Lewis and Clark aficionados were tapping me on my shoulder asking me what happened to my red hair,” Doyle explained. “I didn't want Clark rolling in his grave.
“Clark had red hair, and another Clark and I agreed L'Oreal Red Penny 7-R or Revlon Light Auburn 53 are the best to pull off Clark's likeness.”
When all the celebrations eventually do wrap up, Doyle said he'll be getting fired up for another starring role.
“I've been asked to portray David Thompson, the greatest land explorer and mapper of all time,” Doyle said.
Thompson, for whom Thompson Falls is named, spent five years mapping the Columbia and Saskatchewan rivers for the Hudson Bay Company between 1807 and 1811, and an international bicentennial events are now being planned.
“I'm looking forward to it,” Doyle said. “He made Lewis and Clark look like tourists.”
Lewis and Clark education continues
Bicentennial celebrations of the Corps of Discovery have ended at Travelers' Rest State Park in Lolo, however, the park will continue to educate visitors about the Lewis and Clark legacy, the area's American Indian history and culture.
For more information about the park call Loren Flynn, director of the Travelers' Rest Preservation and Heritage Association, at 273-4253, or visit www.travelersrest.org.
The park is located a half mile west of Lolo on U.S. Highway 12. During the summer, the park is open daily, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
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