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Lewis and Clark Kansas City

About the Southern Region

The region was created in late 2021 when the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation reorganized its structure into regions. The Southern Prairie Region covers six states: Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and southwestern Illinois.

At the time of restructuring, some smaller chapters decided to dissolve while other chapters remained in existence within their region and sometimes hold events primarily for members in their chapter areas.

The new Southern Prairie Region includes two already existing chapters: the Greater St. Louis Chapter and the Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter in northwest Missouri and eastern Kansas.

The Trail Heritage Foundation’s membership structure was revised, too. Now, every paid member is automatically a member of the national organization and chooses which home region she or he wants to be assigned to. For a small extra fee, a member can become assigned to other regions in addition to the person’s home region. Click here to learn about membership.

 

With the Southern Prairie Region as the region of your choice, you will receive quarterly newsletters about activities in the region, as well as invitations to in-person events and Zoom talks, and other information specific to the region as well as the entire Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage organization. You will learn about the most important expedition in our nation’s history and the many educational and tourist opportunities along the 4,900-mile Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. 

 

Most importantly, you will meet great people whose dedication and commitments to telling the story of the 1803-06 expedition are boundless!

 

Enjoy learning about Lewis and Clark and experiencing the trail. For more information or to offer suggestions, please send an email to SouthernPrairie@LewisandClark.org.

 

Click here to become a member

You're invited to a fun, educational Lewis and Clark event on May 20
You're invited to a fun, educational Lewis and Clark event on May 20

Looking for a fun activity this spring where you can learn more about the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

 

You’re invited to such an event on May 20 in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

 

There will be major talks about Lewis and Clark’s time in the community in 1803…and Cape Girardeau will be having its annual Heritage Days Festival. The day is perfect for you and families, a great opportunity to meet up with your Lewis and Clark friends and make new ones.

Click here for details...

Photo: The Red House in Cape Girardeau, an interpretive center themed around Meriwether Lewis's visit there on Nov. 23, 1803. A visit to the Red House is part of the May 20 activities.

 

Our recent newsletter
Our recent newsletter

Enjoy this newsletter, published in September, and learn what's happening in the Southern Prairie Region. Click here.

Photo: In this newsletter an Albert Gallatin re-enactor talks about the cost of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Photo by Steve Lee.

Stroll through history at William Clark's gravesite
Stroll through history at William Clark's gravesite

Here is a fun article about Jerry Garrett, who for decades has volunteered to give tours of William Clark’s gravesite in St. Louis. Learn about Jerry, as well as Clark’s life after the expedition. The article is posted on LewisandClarkNew.com, the blog for the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. Jerry is a long-time member of the organization. Click on this link to read the article: https://wp.me/paIy0X-OW

Furs, Land and Sewing Needles
Furs, Land and Sewing Needles

Watch Chris Hodges, author of “Colter’s West Wind,” give an informative and entertaining talk on the topic of “Furs, Land and Sewing Needles on the Frontier” and how the Lewis and Clark Expedition was at the forefront of opening the frontier for future development. His talk was sponsored by the Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. Click here to watch the video…

 

Video: Watercraft of Lewis and Clark
Video: Watercraft of Lewis and Clark

Watch this video to learn about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the watercraft of western exploration and exploitation from the 1790s to 1840s. The talk was given by Lewis and Clark expert John Fisher. John’s talk aired on Zoom on March 21, 2021, and was hosted by the Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trial Heritage Foundation. To learn more about the nonprofit organization: lewisandclark.org. Introductions in the video were given by Dan Sturdevant and Yvonne Kean of the Riverbend Chapter. To find out about future monthly Zoom talks, please send an email to garykimsey55@gmail.com. Click this link to watch the video: https://youtu.be/AqR0b6nrYZM

 

Video: The Christmases of Lewis and Clark
Video: The Christmases of Lewis and Clark

Learn how the members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition celebrated Christmas in 1803, 1804 and 1805 as they explored America. The presenters are Barb Kubik and Jerry Garrett, prominent members of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation (LCTHF). Recorded on Dec. 6, 2020, this video is one of a series of Lewis and Clark Zoom talks hosted by the Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter of the Land Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. Click here to view the video: https://youtu.be/77VMAQyEJEk

 

Muddy Water and Whiskey
Muddy Water and Whiskey

Read this article to find out about Lewis and Clark's time in the Kansas City area. Interviewed: Dan Sturdevant, chairperson of the Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. Click here to read...

Riverbend members honored
Riverbend members honored

The National Park service recently honored five members of the Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter for their volunteer work on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Read the story...

The First Inclusive Election

In late 1805, the Lewis and Clark explorers conducted what is believed to be the first inclusive election by Americans in the West. Voters included an African-American slave named York and a young Shoshone woman, Sacagawea. In this easy-to-read 550-word essay, Lewis and Clark experts Philippa Newfield and Dr. Jay Buckley describe how this election foretold the universal suffrage it would take our country more than a century to achieve. Click on this link: The First Inclusive Election...

 


Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation
Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter

208 N.W. 44th Street
Kansas City, MO  64116


816-679-5925  |  dan@LewisAndClarkKC.org