Playing through
Golf carts and gawkers greeting the return of the Keelboat to John's Boat Harbor, on the Mississippi River north of St. Charles, May 20. See video below for some aerial video!
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The coolest duo since Lewis & Clark
Although there's no mention of "Fredbird" in the journals, the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals mascot definitely made an impression during a visit May 27.
Museum founder and board member Mimi Jackson (right) gave Fredbird the VIP tour. No word on how "he" reacted to the taxidermy displays.
Of course, Lewis & Clark were no strangers to baseball teams, having encountered Yankees, Cardinals, Orioles, Blue Jays, Braves and, to their dismay, the Rockies!
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Rolling on the River:
Watch a Bird's Eye View
of the Keelboat on a Shakedown Cruise
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Thanks to the diligent attentions of a dedicated cadre, the Keelboat took to the Mississippi River May 20 for a shakedown cruise of staff and equipment. Check out our aerial view of the trip! |
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Make plans for the Boat House Anniversary Celebration!
Daytime: Join us for a day of education as we present tours of the Keelboat, living history displays, a book signing by Amanda Hoenes, who solo paddled from Three Forks to the Gulf of Mexico, food trucks and music from the Lewis & Clark Fife & Drum Corps.
Evening: Then stay for the celebration, with dinner and dancing in the Museum! Live music by the Dennis Stroughmatt Trio. Tickets are available here.
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Interested in volunteering July 1? Read on:
DESC Members,
I have been asked to be the Phase Leader for DESC part in the 20 Anniversary on July 1st at the Boathouse. Our part of the celebration will be to get the downstairs area ready for the event and then setup a few of our normal booths for displays.
So, starting on Friday morning June 30, Kenny Berkemeyer will pull the keelboat outside and the boat will be placed on our driveway. Then we will set up the Mast and the Yardarm. Then we will need to make sure the floor inside the Boathouse 1st Bay where the keelboat was stored is cleaned out. Then we can get started with our setup. Our setup will be in the first boat stall and in the shade only. Fans if needed...you get the picture.
Folding tables and a few of the displays will move out of the Discovery Trailer and be set up in the first boat stall. Then we can fill in the rest of the tables and displays like we normally would.
Weapons Station, Uniforms, Medicine, Fire Starting, Rope Making. Walter Gotsch will be making some items with ropes. I am hoping I have two awesome ladies painting and selling canoe paddles.
We will also get our newest dugout canoe (from the collection of Roger Wendlick, see related article) for display downstairs. The canoe is being radio-carbon dated, and everyone will have the chance to guess the age! We also will need a person to spend the night on the Keelboat Friday night to stand guard.
Saturday July 1st from 11-4, we will be on the clock in our Whites or leathers and dress down as you wish to stay cool.... but dress period 1803-1806.
So, manpower as I see it.
- Two to three members covering the Keelboat. rotate as necessary. We can work out the details later for adding shade.
- Two members at the Weapons station.
- Two members at the Uniform station.
- Two members at Fire starting station.
- Two members at Rope Making station.
- Two members at the Medicine station.
- Two members maybe 3 to 4 covering the Discovery Trailer displays.
- One to two members covering the Red Pirogue as the side of the boat will be opened to visitors now that the keelboat is outside!
Hopefully two ladies at the table with the canoe paddles for sale and maybe a 3rd person if we are asked to watch and sell some items or raffle tickets. We also need to be prepared discuss our years on the trail and maybe some key points each one of can share. So we need a minimum of 20 DESC members -- and 24 or more to rotate and visit with visitors would be awesome. I am also working on a friend to help cover the event to dress as a French boatman of the St. Charles area with his small Pirogue.
Other activities planned; The Spanish will be firing hourly on the river side of the Museum. Fife & Drum will be in action. Food trucks will be on site. So everybody needs to remember to get there early and offload your gear as necessary and park your vehicle on the parking lot and NOT our driveway!!!
Schedule through:
(314) 910-7582
Please call me or text me or email me if you have any questions about our involvement.
Phase Leader Larry Boschen (AKA Sergeant Floyd)
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Remembering
Roger Wendlick
A native of Portland, OR, Roger began collecting memorabilia from the Centennial Exposition in 1980 and started a lifelong obsession with Lewis & Clark. He ultimately donated more than 1,000 books, maps, pamphlets, newspapers and magazines to Lewis & Clark College and chronicled his obsession in a memoir, Shotgun on My Chest: Memoirs of a Lewis and Clark Book Collector. His obsession and enthusiasm was channeled into a portrayal of George Drouillard that was remarkable in its ability to captivate audiences. DESC members and friends are highly encouraged to read the profile of Roger in the most recent edition of We Proceeded On, the Journal of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. The Discovery Expedition of St. Charles is pleased to have an historic canoe acquired from Roger's collection now in its holdings. We are in the process of having the canoe radio-carbon dated and will be holding a "guess the age" raffle at our Anniversary Party.
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Other events
August 18-20 Festival of the Little Hills, St. Charles
October 21-22 Fort Massac Encampment, Metropolis, IL
December 2-3 Holiday Celebration, St. Charles
At left, with April and May, we celebrated the return of school groups, with at least one class per day!
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...And near Pittburgh, PA
For those who are interested in learning more about Lewis & Clark in Pittsburgh, following coverage in We Proceeded On, come to Pittsburgh area August 26-27.
All of the areas mentioned in the article, or shown on the map of Meriwether Lewis's route are within an hour's drive of Elizabeth. Very near the town of Elizabeth, there are two spots with close connections to Lewis: the graveyard where he buried his friend and fellow officer (well documented by Lewis's letters), and Peterson's landmark. Besides these two spots, we will undoubtedly want to show you the Old Stone Tavern, within the Pittsburgh city limits, which Lewis almost certainly knew. There is much more to see and do, but these three spots can best help us understand Meriwether Lewis's early experience in western Pennsylvania. Contact John McNulty to learn more!
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Renew your membership dues now!
Dues are paid by the calendar year: You can renew online, call 636-947-3199 or send a check to DESC, 1050 S. Riverside Drive, Saint Charles, MO 63301. Thank you for your support and for being a member!
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Re-enactors wanted:
Walk Back in Time in Mexico, MO Sept 22-24.
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Dear DESC members,
Several of you attended the Mexico Missouri Walk Back in Time event in 2021. In discussions with the planners they don’t feel that they will be able to raise the funds to have the boats back for this year's event. This is one of the three events that I felt was worth keeping (along with Festival of the Little Hills in St. Charles and Fort Massac in Metropolis, IL). I’m afraid that if we don’t keep the door open we won’t be invited back.
Initially the Cadre elected not to attend this event due to the lack of funding. After relaying this decision to the WBIT planners they were very disappointed. They asked if we could show up with a small contingent of men and a small camp. After meeting with the Cadre and informing them that the planners could provide a $1,000 stipend, it was approved that I could offer a small camp.
My thoughts are a group of 4-6 Corps members and a small camp consisting of 3 or 4 tents. I think this would be an opportunity to do a lean and mean camp that may serve us well going forward if there is a lack of manpower. If any of the volunteers could bring their own camp setup that would be great. No kitchen tent or food. There are food vendors of all kinds on site, a inexpensive fish fry on Friday night, plus they put on a reenactors dinner on Saturday night that is free. We will not have to attend on Friday which is the school kids day but we can set up camp on Friday afternoon.
This is such a great event and I would like to keep the door open for us in future years. Be thinking about this and if you would like to be one of the members contact me through the boat house or directly. The event is September 22-24. I know it is early but wanted to get it on your calendar. I already have a couple of members committed. While I’m only asking for 4 to 6 members we will be happy to have more and that way if you only can come for a day we will have enough to man the camp throughout the event. Don’t let my request for a small number of men stop you from attending.
For the good of the Corps, Tom Young -- Pvt. Patrick Gass
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Attention reenactors
Hawken Rifle event in St. Charles County
looking for volunteers
The second event is the Hawken Classic Rendezvous which is August 25-27th. This event is building up to the commemoration of the bicentennial of the Hawken Brothers opening their shop in St. Louis. They talk a lot about Missouri River Fur Trade and exploration during the event and there are some good tie-ins with the Corps of Discovery.
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Annual Report to the Community
We welcomed 23,500 museum visitors last year, but our impact on the community is so much greater. We’re at the center of community celebrations, such as the Festival of the Little Hills and Fort Massac Encampment, the finish line for hundreds of paddlers in the MR-340, a regular partner with the St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau and destination for school groups, senior centers, and tour groups.
To learn about all we do, and plan to do, check out our
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You can also mail a tax-deductible contribution to:
Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, 1050 S. Riverside Drive, Saint Charles, MO 63301.
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Film Series Special Offer:
The first release of our film series capturing key moments in the journals of Lewis & Clark is now available for purchase and viewing. As members of the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, you can subscribe to the initial introductory release of the Series at a greatly reduced price for a limited time offer of $29.99, a discount of 50 percent for the first six episodes. This offer will only be in effect until March 1, 2023. TO ACCESS AND DOWNLOAD THE VIDEOS, CLICK HERE.
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Book your event at the Boat House!
Just this month, we hosted a 60th birthday party, wedding proposal (she said "yes!"), two days of corporate meetings and the return of school visits! We have booked a wedding rehearsal dinner for June 2023 and now have an ordained wedding officiant on staff.
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Thanks to our friends and supporters!
Despite our challenges, we close out a very successful 2022 poised for exceptional growth. We were blessed by hundreds who helped along the way, but a special shout out to the following for their financial support!
Sacagawea’s Club ($10,000 and over)
Mr. and Mrs. Barbara and Ed Eller
FHC Foundation
Ms. Marilyn Geery
Ms. Carlota (Lotsie) Clark Hermann Holton
Ron Lowery and family
National Park Service
Mr. and Mrs. Sue and Lynn Schneider
Jefferson’s Club ($1,000 and over)
Audrain County Historical Society
Mr. Bryant Boswell
Mr & Mrs. Bill and Teri Brecht
City of St. Charles
The Explorer’s Club, St. Louis Chapter
Fort Massac State Park
Mr. Duane Parker
Mr. & Mrs. Tom and Karen Ronk
Friends of Sue Schneider
Ms. Connie Tesson
Mr. & Mrs. Mack and Charleen Thornton
Paric Construction
Mr. & Mrs. Tom and Joy Young
Captain’s Club ($500 and over)
Mr. John Fisher
Mr. Jerry Garrett
Ms. Anna Laughlin
Mr. Bob Learned
Kluesner Kreations
Lewis and Clark Indiana Foundation
Lewis and Clark Trust
Ms. Janise Manchester
Mr. Richard Prestholdt
In Honor of
Donations in Memory of Jay Coble
Donations in Memory of Barb Eller
Donation in Honor of Gene Glandt
Donations in Honor of Bob Kilmer
Donation in Honor of Marita Ulhaas Parker
Donations in Honor of the Wedding of Lynette Trotter and Gaylen Medders
Donation in Honor of Gene Olson
Donation in Honor of William J. Wolf
Donation in Memory of Donna Whitton, from her Knit-Wit Group
Donations in Memory of Bob Anderson
Donations in Memory of All DESC members who have passed: Presented by Bob & Pat Learned
The list is updated continually on our website! Visit and learn more about how you can get involved. And a special shout out to our Board and Staff for giving selflessly all year long.
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You can be involved in many different ways:
- Become a member or consider making an extra donation!
- Volunteer at the Museum.
- Consider adopting a part of the museum, such as a new display or upgrade.
- Consider sponsoring an educational program or video series.
- Does your company have services or products to donate? From cleaning services/supplies to printing to items for our raffle, we are always interested in partnerships.
- Adopt a part of the museum, such as a new display. Consider sponsoring an educational program or a film in our mini series.
Just as the Corps of Discovery depended on teamwork, dedication and perseverance, so does your Museum and Discovery Expedition. We are incredibly proud to be recognized as an official site on the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail. We have the only fleet of river-worthy replica boats in the United States. And most importantly, we are proud to be a living, working Museum! Thank you for being part of our journey.
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Information about your Corps
Guidestar Listing We have Silver Certification from Guidestar, a trusted directory of all U.S. nonprofits (free log-in may be required)
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Interested in Qualified Charitable Distributions? We can help! |
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We're glad to accept gifts of cash via our online portal and we are a 501(c), with donations eligible for tax deductions. We hold Silver Certification from Guidestar, so you can feel comfortable donating.
Our mailing address is 1050 S. Riverside Dr., St. Charles, MO 63301.
Also, we are in the midst of a major renovation of the museum. We'd love to make a new home for your gently used office equipment including:
- Bookshelves
- Large flatscreen monitors (Smart TVs)
- Patio Furniture
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Corp of Discovery from the Journals
June 23, 1805 – "The men has to haul with all their Strength wate & art, maney times every man (an) all catching the grass & knobes & Stones with their hands to give them more force in drawing on the Canoes & Loads, and notwithstanding the Coolness of the air in high presperation and every halt, those not employed in reparing the Couse; are asleep in a moment, maney limping from the Soreness of their feet Some become fant for a fiew moments, but no man Complains --all go Chearfully on." (Clark)
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Bishop's Landing
1050 S. Riverside Drive
St. Charles, MO 63301
Phone: 636-947-3199
Text KEELBOAT to 44-321 to donate
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