Knappton Cove Heritage Center and the Pacific Northwest Living Historians (PNLH) will present a family-friendly living history program on Saturday, July 12th and Sunday, July 13th. During this two day event, costumed members of the PNLH will demonstrate the tools and skills employed by the explorers of the epic Lewis and Clark expedition.
The program is FREE, although donations are welcomed.
Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark were sent by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, and to seek the best route to the Pacific Ocean through what we now call the Pacific Northwest. During their voyage of 1804 – 1806, they led the “Corps of Northwestern Discovery” overland from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River, and back again. With no means for resupply, the Corps – a U.S. Army unit of 31 men, accompanied by Sacagawea and her infant child, Jean Baptiste – needed to use a diverse combination of skills, along with the right tools, in order to survive.
Dressed in clothing of the style and materials worn by the voyagers of the Corps in 1805, PNLH interpreters will demonstrate and discuss many of those tools and skills, including:
• Safety in handling flintlock firearms
• Starting a fire with flint and steel
• Making clothing from leather
• Carving canoe paddles
• Trading for supplies
Visitors will also learn the history and stories of the Lewis and Clark expedition: the native people who they met, the unfamiliar territory they traveled and mapped, and the ‘new’ animals and plants they discovered.
On Saturday at 2:00pm, we will have a brief Annual Meeting and Lemonade Social where visitors can talk with Board Members and find out about our latest projects.
Program times:
10:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday (2:00pm Lemonade Social/Annual Meeting).
10:00am to 3:00pm on Sunday.
The Knappton Cove Heritage Center is located on State Route 401, along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, about 3 miles east of the north end of the Astoria-Megler bridge, and about 8 miles south of Naselle, WA. The historic U.S. Quarantine Hospital Museum will be open from 1:00pm to 4:00pm both days of the event.
Knappton Cove Heritage Center promotes historic preservation and provides public education and interpretation of the layers of history at this National Historic Site.
For more information, visit the website www.knapptoncoveheritagecenter.org or contact Nancy Anderson at knapptoncove@gmail.com.
