Description: A major new exhibition on the Natural History of the Corps of Discovery opened in May of 2004 and runs through January 29, 2006. Curated by John Logan Allen, the exhibit explores the science of their times as well as speculation of what they might find. Was the uncharted territory of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase home to living mammoths, new medicines, and cultures, mountains of salt, erupting volcanoes and the Northwest Passage to India' These surmises are presented along side the surprises of their expedition. Is there more science in the journals yet to be mined' Are the expedition's journal entries describing the backbones of giant fish perhaps regional dinosaurs' The expedition successfully mapped the west, documented the size of the continent, discovered and named species and features, identified biotic zones and met 52 tribes, all in the name of science.Jefferson Theater explores Thomas Jefferson's repeated efforts to mount an expedition of the West along with the politics and disasters that allowed the Louisiana Purchase to double the size of the nation. Another theater program follows the daily life of the Corps of Discovery. Rare books on display include first edition volumes of the journals, and fictitious accounts of the expedition written by entrepreneurs trying to profit from a world hungry for knowledge of the continental interior.
Directions: West of Wonder: Natural History of Lewis & Clark is located at the Museum of the Rockies on the south edge of the Montana State University campus at 600 West Kagy Boulevard. Take Interstate 90 Exit 305 (19th Street); travel south on 19th Street through town and turn east on Kagy Boulevard.
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