Norman Anderson is presenting a highly unusual visual display that chronicles the 1806 return trip of the Corps of Discovery from the Pacific coast 4,000 miles back to St. Louis.

His presentation is 7 p.m. March 10 at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center, 4201 Giant Springs Road.

The event is free and open to the public and sponsored by the Portage Route Chapter (Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation).

“The 1806 return took 1/3 the time that Lewis and Clark spent getting from St. Louis to the Pacific. Perhaps for that reason, it is less studied and discussed.  But aside from returning with the maps and journals, his talk will suggest that the trip home was much more than a dash across the continent. The return trip provides interesting questions: Why did Lewis and Clark split up to cross Montana in 1806? Did they learn enough to justify this terribly risky division? Did they continue their scientific studies? Anderson’s talk will address those questions, and suggest a greater appreciation of an expedition that wasn’t really over until ‘we commenced wrighting,'” according to the Portage Route Chapter.

Anderson is a retired educator with 40 years in the classroom. He has been a member of the Lewis and Clark Honor Guard since 1997 and in those years has done dozens of presentations in both first and third person regarding various aspects of the expedition.  For the past several years he has worked for “Road Scholars” as an on-board historian for Lewis and Clark national tours.

Call 406-727-8733 for more information