Colorado State University’s American West Program Explores Westward Expansion and Major Explorations

The 26th American West Program continues this summer’s series of speakers with a talk on June 10 by a noted scholar on the Lewis and Clark expedition of the early 1800s and its relation to United States expansion.

The talk by Gary Moulton, history professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will include Moulton’s insights from his 20-year project of editing the entire set of journals – 13 volumes in all – from Lewis and Clark’s expedition, which officially was called the Corps of Discovery. Moulton, who is widely published in areas of Western history, regional exploration and American Indian history, recently was invited to the White House to give a presentation during Lewis and Clark Bicentennial activities.

Following his talk on June 10, Moulton will sign copes of his newly released book on the complete journals from the Lewis and Clark expedition.

The expedition, the first United States overland exploration of the American West and Pacific Northwest, began in May 1804 and ended in September 1806. The expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by Army officers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The exploration covered a total of about 8,000 miles from a camp outside St. Louis, Mo., to the Pacific Ocean and back.

Other topics coming up during the American West Program include 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.

Tickets will be on sale at the door for $7 per lecture. All lectures will begin at 7 p.m. in Room 104 in the newly named Albert C. Yates Hall, formerly the Chemistry/Biosciences Building.

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

• 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.

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