After recently completing a presentation about Sergeant Gass I took questions from the audience.

One lady asked "Now that the Bicentennial is over, what will you do now?" Since then I have been asked . that question several times. What will we do now that the Bicentennial is over?
First, the Bicentennial is not over. It seems to be a perception that the journey ended at the Pacific Ocean in the winter of 1805, but those of us who are students of the journey know the intrepid band had to retum to the USA. There are events planned all the way from the Pacific Ocean to St. Louis and back to Monticello. The Bicentennial commemoration will continue into 2007 so there is another year of work ahead.Secondly, there will be work to do as a result of the Bicentennial for many years to come.

Funding for projects, collections of historical information, maintenance of interpretive markers, and the completion of infrastructures such as museums, interpretive centers and displays will continue. Fort Clatsop needs to be rebuilt Inventories of existing and needed trail sites will require work by all of us. The Bicentennial may not be over until the Tricentennial is underway!

Lastly, we need to remember that 200 is just a number. We humans have an affinity for round numbers such as 50, 100, 200, &c. When they roll up on a calendar we all get moving together to celebrate. What we need to ask ourselves is 'What is so special about 2001?" The answer is "Not much!" Will the significance of what Lewis & Clark and their Expedition members accomplished be any less important on the 201^st anniversary? Or the 209^th? How about the 231^st? The truth is the story is just as important every day as it is on even dates.

The best answer I could come up with for the lady who asked: 'What will you do now?" was a quote from Capt. Lewis's journal entry on his 31^st birthday:

"I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the happiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding generation. I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence, and now soarly feel the want of that information which those hours whould have given me had they been judiciously expended."

Perhaps if there is a living legacy of the Bicentennial it is as Capt. Lewis pointed out in his message before continuing his journey westward. There is more to do and its time for us to get on with it regardless of the number attached to the day. I look forward to taking that journey with all of you.

 

Gary Lentz