I don't recall exactly when I first began reading about Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery, but I suspect that it was in fourth grade.

At a time when Europeans already had a long history of violent contact with Native people, Lewis and Clark made most of their journey in peace.

There's no map for you to follow and take your journey. You are Lewis and Clark. You are the mapmaker.

Over the years, I found myself traveling parts of the Lewis and Clark Trail, putting my hands in the river where they set out from St. Louis, viewing the Great Falls of Montana, standing by the same Pacific Ocean they saw with such joy.

We had a great many horses, of which we gave Lewis and Clark what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return.

It can be done. If I can get Lewis in, I can probably wrangle Clark in, too.