National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
601 Riverfront Drive
Omaha, Nebraska 68102
402-661-1804
http://www.nps.gov/lecl

National Park Service Press Release
For Release: November 18, 2004
Contact: Jeff Olson, Public Information Officer
402-689-7431 - cell phone
402-661-1820 - office

National Park Service receives historic preservation award

(Charlottesville, VA) – The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation today presented the Chairman’s Award for Federal Achievement in Historic Preservation to the National Park Service for coordinating development and display of “Corps of Discovery II: 200 Years to the Future.”

National Park Service Director Fran Mainella and Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Superintendent Steve Adams accepted the award from John L. Nau, III, chairman of the ACHP on Wednesday at Monticello, home of President Thomas Jefferson.

“The Corps of Discovery II project explains the importance of one of the most compelling and significant stories in American history, the saga of the Lewis and Clark Expedition,” Nau said. “During these bicentennial years, the National Park Service and its partners retrace the trail and, in the Tent of Many Voices, refresh the national memory about this epic. Importantly, they do so from the perspectives of the many communities and nations deeply affected and forever altered by this extraordinary journey.”

Mainella said, “This is an honor for the National Park Service and Corps II staff. We also accept the award on behalf of more than two dozen federal agencies and the American Indian nations, trail states and local volunteers who help make Corps II a success in each community.”

The setting for the award is particularly appropriate, said Steve Adams, Superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. It was President Jefferson who directed his personal secretary Meriwether Lewis to assemble a team to explore lands acquired from France through the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.

“Corps of Discovery II began its four-year tour of our country here on a cold morning in January 2003,” Adams said. “Corps II is about halfway through its journey. We’ve traveled to 50 communities and about 250,000 people have come to see the exhibit and take part in programs.”

Corps II provides a comprehensive overview of the 1803-06 Lewis and Clark Expedition with an audio-accompanied exhibit of artwork, maps and graphics. Rangers from the National Park Service and other Federal Interagency Partners enhance the Lewis and Clark story for visitors at a replica keelboat, a plains Indian lodge and an explorer campsite.

But Corps II really connects visitors in the “Tent of Many Voices.” This 200-seat performance venue is where life along the Lewis and Clark Trail comes alive through storytelling, song and dance, panel discussions, living history presentations, lectures, film and personal interaction.

Adams said, “The Tent of Many Voices has fostered a lot of civic engagement and civil dialogue about past and current issues related to trail history.”

Corps of Discovery II wrapped up the 2004 calendar year where Lewis and Clark wintered 200 years ago – North Dakota. Before resuming the trail in North Dakota next spring, Corps II will visit communities in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

In 2005, Corps II will be in communities in North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The 2006 segment of the tour begins at the Pacific Ocean and works east through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.