Exploration of Louisiana Purchase Highlights Colorado State University’s American West Program this Summer

The 26th American West Program this summer will explore "The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion" in a series of talks highlighted by several of the leading international scholars in the field.

The Louisiana Purchase, a vast region in North America – more than 800,000 square miles – was purchased by the United States from France in 1803 and stands as the largest area of territory ever added to the U.S. at one time.

"We’ll go beyond the Lewis and Clark explorations of the early 1800s to the broader context of national territorial acquisition," said Anne Wainstein Bond, history lecturer at Colorado State and this year’s new American West coordinator. "We’ll look at the known and documented forays into the new landscape by peoples of other cultures and other expeditions, such as that of Zebulon Pike into the southern portion of the new territory, including portions of what now is Colorado."

Bond noted that Harry Rosenberg, history professor and former coordinator of the program for many years, will be honored for his contributions to the American West series at a reception following the June 3 speaker’s presentation.

"Professor Rosenberg was the heart and soul of the American West Program for many years, and his tireless devotion to the program will be truly missed," Bond said.

An additional change this year will be the self-funding of the program, Bond said. For the first time, tickets will be on sale at a cost of $7 per lecture (at the door) or $25 for the five-lecture series ($15 for Colorado State students).

All lectures will begin at 7 p.m. in Room 104 in the newly named Albert C. Yates Hall, formerly the Chemistry/Biosciences Building.

For more details on parking, tickets and the lectures, call Bond at 491-6418.

Following is the schedule of events for the American West Program.

  • June 3: "Jeffersonian Geopolitics" by John Logan Allen, noted historical geographer from the University of Wyoming. A tribute to Harry Rosenberg, former coordinator of the program, will follow Allen’s presentation.
  • June 10 : "Editing the Journals of Lewis and Clark" by Gary Moulton from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Moulton will sign copes of his newly released book on the complete journals from the Lewis and Clark expedition.
  • June 17: "Up and Across the Wide Missouri, 1700-1810" by James A. Hanson from the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, Neb.
  • June 24: "A New Peek at Pike" by Jared Orsi, assistant professor from Colorado State University.
  • July 1: "The Search for Lewis and Clark" by Ken Karsmizki, executive director of the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles, Ore.

More information on each speaker and their topics will be available this summer on eComment Daily, Colorado State’s faculty/staff Web page, at www.comment.colostate.edu.