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SCR123.....................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
LEWIS AND CLARK - Stating findings of the Legislature and recognizing the
service and accomplishments of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
02/07 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/08 Rpt prt - to 10th Ord
02/11 10th ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Title apvd - to House
02/12 House intro - 1st rdg - to St Aff
02/27 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/28 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/06 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - voice vote - to Senate
03/07 To enrol
03/08 Rpt enrol - Pres signed
03/11 Sp signed
03/12 To Secretary of State
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE SENATE
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 123
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
2 STATING FINDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE AND RECOGNIZING THE SERVICE AND ACCOM-
3 PLISHMENTS OF MERIWETHER LEWIS AND WILLIAM CLARK.
4 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
5 WHEREAS, President Thomas Jefferson received the approval of Congress on
6 February 28, 1803, to fund an expedition into the West with orders to explore
7 the Missouri River and such tributaries as might lead to the Pacific Ocean on
8 the most direct and practicable water route for purposes of commerce, in addi-
9 tion to which, the expedition was to gather scientific and geographical infor-
10 mation, and to encourage peace among any Indian Nations encountered; and
11 WHEREAS, Meriwether Lewis, Captain of the First Regiment of Infantry, and
12 former Secretary to President Jefferson, was appointed to lead the expedi-
13 tion, and he selected, with the approval of the President, William Clark to
14 serve equally as a Captain in a leadership role; and
15 WHEREAS, the Corps of Discovery party spent the winter of 1803-1804 at
16 Camp Dubois and the winter of 1804-1805 at Camp Mandan preparing for the jour-
17 ney into previously uncharted western lands, at the latter camp hiring
18 Toussaint Charbonneau as an interpreter traveling with his wife, Sacajawea, a
19 Lemhi Shoshone and their newborn son, Jean Baptiste; and
20 WHEREAS, on April 7, 1805, the Corps of Discovery, consisting of thirty-
21 one men, one woman and her child, and Seaman, the faithful Newfoundland dog of
22 Captain Lewis, set out from Camp Mandan for the Pacific Ocean; and
23 WHEREAS, on August 12, 1805, Captain Lewis stood on Lemhi Pass and, look-
24 ing westward, discovered immense mountains partially covered with snow and
25 realized that a water passage to the Pacific Ocean was impossible; the follow-
26 ing day, Lewis made a peaceful contact with the Lemhi Shoshone and hired them
27 to transport the baggage of his party over the mountains to the camp of the
28 Lemhi Shoshone, the Homeland of Sacajawea; and while at their encampment on
29 the eastern side of the Continental Divide, Sacajawea was reunited with her
30 brother, Chief Cameahwait, and her people from whom she was stolen by the
31 Minnetares a few years earlier; and
32 WHEREAS, the Lemhi Shoshone provided the Corps of Discovery with food and
33 horses and a guide, Old Toby, for their land trip westward to the Clearwater
34 River; and
35 WHEREAS, the expedition left Idaho at Lost Trail Pass and entered present-
36 day Montana on September 4, 1805, reentering Idaho at Lolo Pass on September
37 13, 1805, and beginning an arduous trip across the Bitterroots by way of the
38 Lolo Trail; and
39 WHEREAS, Captain William Clark, in advance of the main party, encountered
40 a Nez Perce camp on the Weippe Prairie on September 20, 1805, and the Nez
41 Perce graciously provided the nearly starving party with food and directions,
42 and helped them construct canoes for the last part of their trip to the
43 Pacific Ocean, and in addition agreed to take charge of their horses until the
44 expedition returned for them the following year; and
2
1 WHEREAS, on their return trip, the Corps of Discovery reentered Idaho near
2 Lewiston on May 5, 1806, and on May 13 established Camp Chopunnish or Long
3 Camp near Kamiah, where the party waited and interacted with the Nez Perce
4 until weather permitted the opening of the Lolo Trail, and on June 29, 1806,
5 the Corps of Discovery, with the aid of Nez Perce guides passed back through
6 Lolo Pass on their way homeward.
7 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-
8 sion of the Fifty-sixth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Repre-
9 sentatives concurring therein, that we recognize and honor the contributions
10 of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark for their leadership of the first explo-
11 ration of what is now known as Idaho commissioned by the United States of
12 America, and the hospitality and contributions of the Lemhi Shoshone and Nez
13 Perce, and we further recognize the upcoming Bicentennial Anniversary of their
14 expedition into Idaho and the Pacific Northwest.