Departure Celebration at Lewis & Clark State Historic Site

About this event

The Lewis and Clark State Historic Site will celebrate the 219th anniversary of the start of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with the Point of Departure Celebration on May 13 and 14. Visitors can interact with military demonstrators, historic artisans, and more at this free event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

 Historic artisans will exhibit skills including candle making, leatherworking, gunsmithing, spinning, and much more. This is a great opportunity to experience how things were made in the past and what life in the Illinois Country was like. A frontier doctor will explain the tools of his trade and treatments for common early 1800s ailments. Other experts will discuss the flora and fauna catalogued by Lewis and Clark.

Military reenactors will portray soldiers of the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s Corps of Discovery. Interpreting the “White Pirogue” replica of the Expedition’s boat, these reenactors will reveal the grueling task of navigating against the Missouri River. The War of 1812 American 2nd Regiment Artillery will discuss the war in which many Lewis and Clark Expedition members would serve while demonstrating black powder muskets and firing artillery. Ed Dulaney will also share the British experience in the region and demonstrate what soldiering was like while on campaign.

 Historian Jeffrey Edison, a museum educator with Saint Louis County Parks, will share York’s role in the Expedition as an enslaved servant. Edison helps to humanize the often-forgotten Expedition member.

 Point of Departure Weekend sponsors include Phillips 66, Lewis and Clark Society of America, Village of Hartford, and Illinois Department of Natural Resources.