Open house Jan. 27 

Youngsters who like to see how the pioneers traveled on the frontier before Missouri was even a state are in for a treat. 

An open house is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center.

The purpose is to show off the new one-half scale model of the keelboat used on the famous Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804. The original boat was their main transportation during the expedition to map the Missouri River into the Pacific Northwest.

If you don’t want to wait for the open house, the one-half scale replica is already in the lobby at the Nature center. 

The original boat measured 55 feet long and eight feet wide. The historically accurate replica measures 28 feet long and four feet wide. 

The boat has a cabin with an awning, an anchor, a 32-foot hinged mast with sail, a flag, lockers, oars and push poles. There was also a small cannon in the front of the boat. 

Jan Starke coordinates public programs at the Powder Valley Center. She said the open house will include an official “launching” of the keelboat along with public tours of the boat. There will be refreshments.

A special feature at the open house will be a flag design and coloring contest for three different age groups. Kids 7 to 12 are in one group. There is a 13-18 category and one for people 19 and over. 

The goal will be to design your version of the U.S. flag of 1804.

Stark said guidelines for design as well as all materials will be provided. Winners will earn prizes and winning entries will be displayed near the keelboat replica. 

During the time of the Lewis and Clark “Journey of Discovery,” there were only 15 states in the U.S. The white stars were scattered on a blue “canton” in one corner. The rest of the flag contained 15 alternating red and white stripes. 

“The drawing of the U.S. flag in Clark’s written journal looks nothing like the Stars and Stripes we know,” Starke said.

The keelboat and two smaller boats were home for 44 members of the Lewis and Clark expedition along with one Newfoundland dog. It also had to carry supplies, surveying equipment, clothing, medicine, a library and gifts for Indians they met on the way.

The biggest problem was that the trip up the Missouri River was against the current. Sometimes, if the wind was right, they could use the sail. But, most of the time, the men had to push or pull the 14-ton boat against that current. 

Despite the problems, the group averaged 15 to 20 miles a day during the first month on the Missouri River. This was obviously a job for young men. Clark was only 30 years of age when the expedition started. 

He died only a few years later, at age 35. 

This replica of the keelboat is a modern day look at a boat which played a vital part in the exploration of the large middle part of U.S. 

President Thomas Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to explore the Missouri River after Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase from Spain. The land purchased extended from New Orleans  up the Mississippi River to Minnesota, the Dakotas and Montana. 

What is now Missouri also was included. 

The visit to see the replica of the historic keelboat will be one of the chances to see a bit of history. 

There’ll be other chances to view this important stage of Missouri history as we near the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark trip. Young Saint Louis.com will tell you about some of these events in future issues. 

In last October’s website edition, we provided a review of a special Lewis and Clark book written especially for younger people. The 143-page paperback was entitled, “Lewis and Clark for Kids.” 

You can look at that review by clicking on archives and going to the October edition of this website. The author of the book is Janis Herbert. The publisher is Chicago Review Press. They earlier produced another good book of history for kids, “The Civil War for Kids.”
 
 
 

Butch Bouvier Wood-working hobby is now a full-time career Butch Bouvier used to run an auto body shop.  But now, the Onawa, Iowa, man has turned his wood-working hobby into his full-time job.  Bouvier is the one who built the one-half scale model of the Lewis and Clark keelboat that is on display in the lobby of the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center in St. Louis.  He will be one of the featured speakers for the grand opening of the keelboat exhibit on January 27.  “Eighteen years ago, boat building was a hobby. Then, it became a paying hobby. Now, it’s a full-time occupation,” he said.  Bouvier said the keelboat replica was made from “a set of drawings from the Lewis and Clark field notes.”  But, he said the flat bottom on the keelboat is from his own mind. “The Clark drawings showed the top and sides of the boat but not the bottom,” Bouvier said.  He said most designers of frontier boats are “all blue-water designers.” He said that means most of them think about the round-bottoms used for ships on large bodies of water. “But, you’ve got to remember, the Missouri River was only 14-inches deep in some places when Lewis and Clark were traveling it,” he said. That meant the bottom couldn’t be round because it would go too far into the water, he said. Bouvier doesn’t have to go too far from home to experience the Missouri River. Onawa is located near the river, about halfway between Council Bluffs and Sioux City in western Iowa.  In addition to frontier boats, Bouvier restores log cabins and does other frontier wooden structures. “If it’s something from the 18th Century, it’s expected that I can build it,” he said.