David Horsey explains:

Because the Lewis & Clark expedition 200 years ago was so central to our own history, my editors sent me on a much more modest mission: to cover in nine days the ground it took Lewis and Clark three months to cross.

Along the way, I contemplated what the bicentennial observance means to us who now live in this place that Lewis and Clark first introduced into the American story.

I also became conscious of one hard and inescapable reality that underlies the celebration of Lewis and Clark’s great journey: Though they are true American heroes, Lewis and Clark were also heralds of doom for a Native American way of life that had lasted for 10,000 years.