Annual Lewis and Clark Encampment at Knappton Cove

Knappton Cove Heritage Center and the Pacific Northwest Living Historians (PNLH) will present a family-friendly living history program on Saturday, July 13 and Sunday, July 14.  During this two day event, costumed members of the PNLH will demonstrate the tools and skills employed by the explorers of the epic Lewis and Clark expedition.

Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark were sent by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, and to seek the best route to the Pacific Ocean through what we now call the Pacific Northwest.  During their voyage of 1804 – 1806, they led the “Corps of Northwestern Discovery” overland from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River, and back again.  With no means for resupply, the Corps – a U.S. Army unit of 31 men, accompanied by Sacagawea and her infant child, Jean Baptiste - needed to use a diverse combination of skills, along with the right tools, in order to survive.
 
Dressed in clothing of the style and materials worn by the voyagers of the Corps in 1805, PNLH interpreters will demonstrate and discuss many of those tools and skills, including:

• Safety in handling flintlock firearms
• Starting a fire with flint and steel
• Making clothing from leather
• Carving canoe paddles
• Trading for supplies

Visitors will also learn the history and stories of the Lewis and Clark expedition: the native people who they met, the unfamiliar territory they traveled and mapped, and the ‘new’ animals and plants they discovered.
 
On Saturday at 2 P.M., we will have a brief Annual Meeting and Lemonade Social where visitors can talk with Board Members and find out about our latest projects.