Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
Scottsburg and Clarksville, Indiana & Louisville, Kentucky
Saturday and Sunday, October 25-26, 2003

By Ruth Dorrel

Twenty-six members and guests of the Society of Indiana Pioneers left Indianapolis on 25 October by motor coach on a guided tour planned and hosted by Bill Kelleher of TWB Enterprises (“Travel with Bill”) of Greenfield, Indiana. On the way to our first stop in Scottsburg, a portion of a National Geographic video about the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery, furnished by Morris and Marjorie Conly, was shown.

Upon arrival at the Scott County Public Library, a Carnegie Library erected in 1921, the librarian, Andrew H. Rowden, welcomed the group. Carol Susnick, the Scott County Historian, gave the group a short history of Scott County. Helen Trueblood then talked about the Pigeon Roost Massacre that took place in Scott County in 1812. Mrs. Trueblood is a descendant of one of the survivors of the Indian attack on the early settlers. Jeannie Noe Carlisle distributed information on the new Genealogy Room opened in the Scott County Heritage Center, a museum dedicated in the summer of 2002, and invited any persons researching Scott County ancestors to visit the facility. The travelers walked a short distance to Jeeves & Company, located on the town square, where lunch was served.

The coach stopped at the Galt House in downtown Louisville to pick up four other members of our group en route to our next stop, Locust Grove, the home of William and Lucy (Clark) Croghan, pronounced “Crahn”. Locust Grove is a National Historic Landmark on 55 of the original 694.5-acre farm established by the Croghans in 1790. Lucy was the sister of George Rogers Clark and William Clark. George Rogers Clark was a founder of Louisville and a veteran of the Revolutionary War having defeated the British at Vincennes in 1779. He spent the last nine years of his life, until his death in 1818, at Locust Grove. William Clark joined Meriwether Lewis in leading the Lewis and Clark expedition; Locust Grove was a stopping point for Lewis and Clark upon their return from their expedition in 1806. A short film about Locust Grove was viewed in the Visitors Center prior to a tour of the home and grounds.

The group returned to the Galt House, a hotel on the southern bank of the Ohio River near the site of the original Galt House, which was built in the 1830s. The present-day Galt House is a modern hotel and convention center offering nearly 1,000 guest rooms. Dinner was served in the hotel’s River Grill. After dinner, members of the tour entertained themselves during the rest of the evening. Some persons took trolley rides, others walked on the riverfront, and others retired to their rooms to view the final game of the World Series.

Rain was pouring in Louisville while the group ate breakfast at the River Grill; however, by the time we met the bus at 10 a.m., the rain had stopped, but the morning was gray and windy. We visited exhibits in a lovely park on the Louisville riverfront and on barges docked at the river’s edge.

The group sang “Back Home Again in Indiana” as we crossed the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge over the Ohio and headed to Indiana’s Falls of the Ohio State Park. At the Park’s Interpretive Center, we again viewed a film about the history of the area. Shuttle buses then transported us to the site of George Rogers Clark’s recreated cabin home, where many more exhibits and food tents (including offerings of buffalo burgers) were to be viewed and enjoyed. From this location, Lewis and Clark recruited young men in the area to join their expedition in the summer and fall of 1803. Reenactors roamed the grounds, offering shooting exhibits, campsite demonstrations, and military maneuvers.

The sun arrived in time for the reenactment ceremony, preceded by music by a Fife and Drum Corps from Missouri and speeches by dignitaries from the various agencies who planned and participated in the reenactment. At approximately 3:50 p.m., the keelboat replica shoved off from the shore of the Ohio River in Clarksville. The Corps of Discovery was again on its way headed west.

On the trip back to Indianapolis, the rest of the video concerning the expedition was shown.

Members and guests from Asheville, NC, Houston, TX, Cincinnati, OH, Jupiter, FL, and Boise, ID, joined the Indiana contingent in a memorable trip.