La Charrette A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier Visited by Lewis and Clark * Daniel Boone * Zebulon Pike has gained another notable distinction with its approval by the National Park Service for two of their interpretative centers in and around St. Louis, Missouri. The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch) in St. Louis at http://www.nps.gov/jeff/ and the Camp River Dubois site of Hartford, Illinois from where The Corps of Discovery started their westward journay at http://www.campdubois.com/ will both offer La Charrette at their interpretative center bookstores.  

These sites represent two of the 385 National Park System centers across the nation. ”I am excited about this decision allowing interested parties visiting these sights to acquire this detailed history of this frontier village from where Lewis and Clark departed civilization. They will discover a missing-link in our national heritage revealed by its rich history,” stated author Lowell M. Schake upon learning of the decision on August 21, 2006. He added, “The review process leading to approval took well over six-months.”

“Paddling Back on Lewis & Clark Path” was a headline in a recent Warren County Record article. “We are part of something on a national scale” said Al Puknat, one of three local re-enactors planning to come down the Missouri this September to arrive at La Charrette on September 20, just as did the Corps of Discovery 200 years ago. Puknat is joined by Darrell Dinger and Joe Tesson in this adventure. The three local men, as members of the St. Charles Corps of Discovery, have worked diligently for 10 years on plans and construction of a beautiful 20-foot, 41-inch cedar boat to be employed for the occassion. 

Join in the excitement! Be at the La Charrette village site, near present day Marthasville, Missouri, for their arrival this September. 

August 3, 2006. The Warren County Record announced plans of the Marthasville Lewis and Clark Committee to establish a 5-foot red granite monument in Marthasville’s Wessel Park with a La Charrette plaque. The plaque is a much larger and more detailed rendition of the one shown on the back cover of La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway To The American Frontier Visited by Lewis and Clark * Daniel Boone * Zebulon Pike reissued earlier this year.

The plaque’s placement in Wessel Park will highlight the La Charrette Village vertical log cabin erected there since May 2003 for the bicentennial arrival of Lewis and Clark at the long lost village. September 20, 2006 marks the bicentennial return of The Corps of Discovery to civilization at La Charrette Village.

Retired fireman Bob Daus of nearby Dutzow (once the home of early German settler Gottfried Duden) was commissioned to create the work of art. The 25-pound bronze sculptor of his Liberty Artworks, Inc. www.libertyartworks.com will aid in my objective to return ‘life’ the village. Committee Chairman, Connie Tesson said, “It will be here hundreds of years after we are gone. Its a beautiful thing.” Local historian and friend, Mr. Ralph Gregory provided the inscription for the monument. Local business woman Ann Jenkins designed the plaque’s artwork.

Congratulations to everyone who helped make this a reality! Join the celebrations in Marthasville September 20 by “Shouting for joy” as the the explorers return to the frontier of the Louisiana Purchase.   

Likely enough, there must be millions of reasons for our fascination with western lore. Some may identify with the great western migration, others with trail drives, ranching, horses, or even pickup trucks. Even our youthful fascinations with Cowboy and Indian movies, novels and comic books embellish the image. Even so, newly disclosed secrets unbeknown but to a few privileged historians offer new details about how all this really began. Disguised as secrets for a very long time, these old sequestered events are intimately associated with a National Bicentennial Celebration of a U.S. military expedition out of Missouri led by a man known as The Lost Pathfinder by one biographer.  Indeed these are very old secrets, even predating the Louisiana Purchase. What were these secrets, and why so long in revealing the roots of western migration, cowboys and our interest in such?

  ……………

The preceeding paragraph appears in  the August 2006 issue of ROUNDUP MAGAZINE, Volume XIII, Number 6: 14-17 as my introduction to an article extracted from La Charrette: A History of the Village Gateway to the American Frontier Visited by Lewis and Clark * Daniel Boone * Zebulon Pike that was reissued earlier this year. Obtain a copy of ROUNDUP MAGAZINE for ‘Rest of the Story’. Their homepage is http://www.westernwriters.org and subscribe for only $30 per year. Back issues cost $5.00 each, if available. ROUNDUP MAGAZINE is a forum for Western literature sponsored by Western Writers of America, Inc. 

Happy reading as you explore the American West!