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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: CHRISTOPHER KORTLANDER, DIRECTOR
CUSTER
BATTLEFIELD MUSEUM, (406) 638-1876 OPENING OF NEW
LEWIS AND CLARK
DOCUMENTS AND
RARE BOOKS EXHIBIT
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JUNE 16, 2004, GARRYOWEN, MONTANA—An important new Lewis and Clark exhibit was recently unveiled at the Custer Battlefield Museum in Garryowen. Last week’s opening attended by Lewis and Clark enthusiasts and collectors of historical Western Americana was presided over by museum director Chris Kortlander. “The Custer Battlefield Museum is honored to bring this magnificent collection to Garryowen,” said Kortlander. “The Lewis and Clark expedition was the first government survey of natural resources in the American West, and its importance cannot be overstated.”
In 1803, Congress tasked the small group of adventurers with ascending the Missouri River to its source hoping to discover an overland route linking the east to the Pacific Ocean. This intrepid group, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark came to be known as the Corps of Discovery. The Custer Battlefield Museum exhibit contains several extremely rare pieces detailing the five-year expedition of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery.
Included in the exhibit are the prized Lewis & Clark journals that belonged to the publisher and 1st President of the Bank of the United States, Nicholas Biddle. The volumes contain handwritten notes and several period newspaper articles and original steel plate engravings from the Department of Treasury, that were added by Biddle himself.
Another highlight of the exhibit is an early printing of Sergeant Patrick Gass’ personal journal filled with hand-drawn scenes and first-hand accounts of the Corps’ daily struggles through uncharted lands. The exhibit also includes a peace pipe that is believed to have been acquired through the Corps’ interaction with native Indians, as well as an 1809 apocryphal text, original 1st editions of the 1814 Corps journals, and an original document signed by William Clark. “We are so excited to have assembled this exceptional collection of Lewis and Clark journals and ephemera,” Kortlander stated. “This is perhaps one of the finest Lewis and Clark exhibits in the American West and we are honored to bring it to an interested public.”
The museum display can be viewed daily from 8am to 8pm and
special exhibit tours can be arranged. More information about the Lewis and
Clark exhibit as well as other museum displays and historical travel
opportunities in the area can be obtained by contacting the Custer Battlefield
Museum at (406) 638-1876, or visiting the museum’s website:
www.custermuseum.org. Email inquiries
should be directed to info@custermuseum.org.
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NOTE:
A choice of photos can be provided in several formats including digital scans,
and the enclosed
article may be downloaded from the website
www.custermuseum.org/press2.htm