Kids of Discovery Jun 7, Lewis and Clark State Historic Site in Southern Illinois

Kids get a chance to experience the Lewis and Clark Expedition Saturday, june 7th at Lewis and Clark State Historic Site on Illinois Route 3 south of Hartford.  Hours are 10am to 4pm and it's free and open to the public.  Camp River Dubois will offers kids a chance to take part in US Army military drills.  Although you might think it was conducted as a civilian expedition, the Lewis and Clark expedition was strictly military and they wore uniforms.  Kids gets a chance to use a telesdcop, make rope, bead a necklace, navigate by compass and map, learn about military camp life, and pull the weight of a boat on land as when the original expedition pulled boats along in shallow waters heading west.  They can also take part in a formal flag ceremony, and earn a certificatre of enlistment into the Junior Corps of Discovery at Camp River DuBois.  Lewis and Clark wintered over in the area in 1803-1804 while recruiting for their Corps of Discovery, turning down some because their abilities or determination did not measure up.  At the site are a multi-media visitor's center and a reproduction of the fort built by the expedition where they bunked during the winter while preparations continued.  The visitor's center even has an incredibly cool cutaway of a full-size keelboat such as the expedition used, packed and ready, with stored items labeled with helpful information.

By the way, Cahokia Mounds is nearby, and located north of the site is Alton with its Piasa Bird, life-size statue of the world's tallest man, and the haunted Alton Confederate prison ruins.

For more stories on places to visit in and around Illinois, check out the many listed in my Gather group "Illinois Road Trip" at www.illinoisroadtrip.gather.com