Retrace the treks of the Lewis and Clark Expedition this summer Fun-filled activities and exhibits planned at the Museum of the Rockies by Jean Arthur Breezes tease grasses into showing their silvery undersides as afternoon thermals lift a sharp-shinned hawk from a cottonwood snag into flight over the Gallatin River. Whitetail deer cool in the shade of willows growing in sandy stretches along the waterway. When Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the Corps of Discovery explorers traveled 8,400 miles in two years and four months, including 2,000 miles through Montana, they found similar sights. Today's traveler may be two centuries behind Clark and his friends, yet contemporary visitors can find similar experiences, as Clint Blackwood, '74 Bus, can attest. He is the executive director of the Montana Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission. "Montana has more miles on the Lewis and Clark Trail than any other state," said Blackwood. "The Corps spent more travel time in Montana than in any other state, which is why we have so many important sites." This summer, several events and activities on and near the MSU-Bozeman campus retrace the original treks of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Unique historic sites are within a short drive from Bozeman. About the time the yellow warblers, calliope hummingbirds and western grebes return to the Gallatin Valley, the Museum of the Rockies (MOR) unveils an extensive two-acre outdoor exhibit. The Lewis and Clark Challenge Course opens June 5, in the field north of the museum. It is part of the "Lewis & Clark: Surmises and Surprises" exhibit on display through February 2006. The activities will attract families to the Tipi Village, Mandan Garden, mapping exercises and the music, dancing and games of two centuries ago. "The route that Lewis and Clark took across the continent from 1803-06 is represented by a 30-foot-long, four-hole golf course," says Beth Merrick, exhibit director at MOR. "There's one hole for each of their winter encampments plus one for the Headwaters of the Missouri. Obstacles like the Stoney Mountains are made of river rock to be navigated." The single largest exhibit, and the one most visible from Kagy Blvd., is a replica keelboat, 55 feet long, 8 feet wide, two stories high floating in a river of redwood bark. Kids will climb aboard, investigate the cabin and shift the tiller. Volunteer interpreters will share Lewis and Clark facts such as the different types of watercraft the corps used. Lewis requisitioned an iron boat, weighing less than 100 pounds and able to carry several times it weight. Failing miserably, it sunk somewhere near the Great Falls of the Missouri. The Corps carved canoes from cottonwood. They dragged both a red and a white pirogue, flat-bottomed boats, up the Missouri River. When their horses were stolen, Sgt. Pryor and Privates Shannon, Hall and Windsor built "bull boats" made of a frame of sticks tied with leather thongs and covered with bloody bull bison hides. The crafts attracted more than flies. Curious grizzly bears could smell the boats as the men bobbed down the Yellowstone River in 1806. Appropriately, another Challenge Course activity is to try to outrun a grizzly bear. "Visitors insert a bullet--really a gumball provided with the 'Challenge Course Journal and Guide'--into a series of ramped raceways and then start running a course around a series of posts and rails," explains Merrick. "Meanwhile, the ball zigs and zags its way downhill through the raceway at a known speed, eventually hitting a large bell that marks the time that a grizzly bear would need to complete the course." She notes that if the person doesn't reach the finish line before the bell rings, it means that the bear won the footrace. "Members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition often fired at grizzlies," she said. "One member who forgot to load his gun before an accidental encounter used the gun to hit the grizzly over the head." Inside the MOR is a natural history exhibit, "The West of wonder: The natural history of Lewis and Clark." Jefferson's view of the West and his plans to explore it are revealed in a theater presentation. Visitors can explore the geography, botany, geology, ethnography and zoology efforts of the expedition. The legacy of their work culminates in a remarkable collection of first edition Lewis and Clark publications loaned by MSU's Renne Library's Special Collections. Outside the museum, a viewing platform points to Bozeman-area landmarks visible today. The Corps members traveling homeward with Clark followed today's Interstate 90 through Gallatin County. The group lunched near Bozeman on July 14, 1806, and camped at the mouth of Kelly Canyon, where the Shoshone woman Sacajawea pointed out the buffalo trail over Bozeman Pass. One of the most important dictates from President Jefferson was to find the Missouri River's headwaters, which they accomplished on their westward journey. They arrived at Three Forks on July 25, 1805. Headwaters State Park is among the few important Lewis and Clark historic places that remain nearly unaltered, notes Blackwood, who adds that Headwaters is a "must see" site. About 30 miles west of Bozeman, Headwaters offers picnicking, trails and interpretive signs detailing the importance of the site. Near here, Sacajawea was abducted from her Shoshone family and taken by the Hidatsa to the Mandan villages. When she returned five years later, she helped find the route for the Corps. It was also here that Lewis named rivers after Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, Secretary of State James Madison and President Thomas Jefferson. While some of Jefferson's contemporaries doubted the wisdom of spending $15 million on mostly unknown lands of the Louisiana Purchase, the real estate the deal more than doubled the size of the country. He bought 820,000 square miles for 3 cents an acre, including the territory that is tnow Montana. Other summer Lewis and Clark events Visitors do not have to wear buckskin to the wildly comical musical adventure, "The Clark and Lewis Show," by the Vigilante Theatre Company. Actors illuminate the epic quest of Lewis and Clark with vaudeville and pageantry. The show begins at 7 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays, June 17 through August 1 (excluding June 26) in the Museum of the Rockies. Call 406-586-3897 for information. A fireside lecture series at Headwaters State Park illuminates Lewis and Clark's experiences at 7 p.m. Saturdays at the picnic area. Interpreters are in the park daily during the summer and offer interpretive talks at 2 p.m. on most weekdays. Call 406-994-6934 for information. The Three Forks area Festival of Discovery is an annual event held July 2324, and this year it commemorates the Corps of Discovery. Three Forks area communities and businesses are hosting a number of programs and events. Call 406-285-4778 for information. The John Colter Run on Saturday, Sept. 4 at the Missouri Headwater State Park commemorates Corps member John Colter's famous run across Montana during his escape from Blackfeet warriors. Call 406-587-4415 for details. On Sunday, Sept. 26 the Lewis and Clark Marathon--A Journey of Discovery will start at Jackson Creek Road on Bozeman Pass, follow Clark's route in reverse through Kelly Canyon, then continue into Bozeman, ending at the MSU stadium. Call 406-556-9736 for information.