Journeys Through American History: Volume II: Manifest Destiny Continues West

By James T Parks

Our Country's Founding Fathers, and successive generations of national leaders, believed it was the God-given destiny of America to expand its geographic dominion by spreading democracy and capitalism across the North American continent. Advocates of Manifest Destiny, however, also used it to justify the forceful removal of Native Americans from

• Language: English
• Publisher: European Creative Communication Inc
• Release date: Nov 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781513667539

James T Parks

James T. Parks has been journeying into America's historic hinterlands for most of his life. He's been writing about and photographing those travels for some 20 years. Having grown up just a few blocks from historic Route 66, his wanderlust began early in life. Although interested in all aspects of America, many of his expeditions have been away from the heavily trafficked tourist destinations. He particularly likes to find America's forgotten corners and unique places that make the fabric of life in our country so rich and interesting. If getting there involves scenic, curvy roads, all the better. He has been a contributor to RoadRUNNER magazine since his first tour with its founder, Christian Neuhauser, in 2003. Although not a trained academic, he has a strong passion for combining human and geological history into his travels and writings to give readers a deep understanding of the context of places and times in history.

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JOURNEYS THROUGH AMERICAN HISTORY

Volume II: Manifest Destiny Continues West

By James T. Parks

Our Country’s Founding Fathers, and successive generations of national leaders, believed it was the God-given destiny of America to expand its geographic dominion by spreading democracy and capitalism across the North American continent. Advocates of Manifest Destiny, however, also used it to justify the forceful removal of Native Americans from their homelands in the east and relocate them to reservations in the west, which was profiled in Volume I’s The Cherokee Trail of Tears. We begin this volume by retracing the steps of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which President Jefferson tasked with exploring the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. This acquisition of some 828,000 square miles of territory from the French approximately doubled the size of the United States.

The Louisiana Purchase was followed in later years by armed annexations of Florida and most of America’s present day southwest and West Coast from Spain and Mexico. As the Nation’s geographic footprint expanded, more emigrants flooded into western lands. Treaties previously negotiated between the Federal Government and Native Americans were frequently broken to make room for the new settlers. Volume II also retraces the historic National Road west, the opening of Unassigned Lands in Indian Territory to settlement, the forgotten Kansas prairie lands, covered bridges and mills in Indiana, and the historic Black Hills region in present day South Dakota.

Journeys Through American History

This book is the second volume of a collection of RoadRUNNER travelogues written by James T. Parks, which focuses on locations and routes steeped in American history. Jim’s original articles are scattered piecemeal throughout various RoadRUNNER bimonthly issues, spanning more than a decade of time. With that in mind, we have updated information, where feasible, that appeared in the original articles. Readers, who are interested in how America came to be what it is today, will find this integrated collection of historically themed adventures of particular interest, regardless of your mode of transportation.

Volume II focuses on America’s inexorable westward expansion propelled by the concept of Manifest Destiny. Come along with us and enjoy our 21st century journeys through American history.

Christa Neuhauser

Publisher

RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel

©2020 by RoadRUNNER Publishing division of European Creative Communication Inc.

ISBN: 978-1513667539 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-5136675-3-9 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Journeys Through American History, Vol. II, James T. Parks

Printed in USA

Photography: James T. Parks, RoadRUNNER Publishing

First printing: November 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Jefferson’s Epic Real Estate Deal Of The 19th Century:

The Lewis & Clark Trail

An Overland Way West—The Federal Government Builds Its First Road:

The National Road

Emigrants And Immigrants Arrive In Middle America:

Indiana: Covered Bridges

Indian Territory Becomes a State:

Oklahoma: High Plains Drifting

Kansas and South Dakota:

Kansas: Forgotten Prairie Lands

Deadwood, South Dakota: The Black Hills & Beyond

JEFFERSON’S EPIC REAL ESTATE DEAL OF THE 19TH CENTURY

The first major installment of westward expansion occurred in 1803, when President Thomas Jefferson acquired from France some 828,000 square miles of land, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. The price was $15 million or around 3 to 4 cents per acre—not too bad! But little was known about this unexplored frontier inhabited almost entirely by Native Americans. Obviously, an expedition should be mounted to check it out. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were tapped to lead the Corps of Discovery on its epic journey up the Missouri River and ultimately to the Pacific Ocean.

THE LEWIS & CLARK TRAIL

The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River & such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purpose of commerce. —Thomas Jefferson, President, Washington, D.C., June 20, 1803

ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI: OUR JOURNEY BEGINS

Kayla Cavaliere, my 19-year-old granddaughter, and I are racing through Dulles Airport to catch an early morning flight to St. Louis. We meet up with Jeff Arpin, the third member of our expedition, behind a rapidly forming line of frenzied passengers heading into security. Slipping into my seat and buckling up for takeoff, I recall that Meriwether Lewis left Washington, D.C., on July 5, 1803, to begin preparations for his voyage up the Missouri River. During his trip to the fur-trading outpost in St. Louis, Lewis acquired boats, men, provisions, and his co-captain, William Clark. The idea for the excursion was spawned by Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase from France for the bargain price of $15 million.

After arriving on the banks of the Mississippi River near St. Louis, winter quarters were constructed. The Corps of Discovery’s expedition would begin some 11 months after Lewis departed Washington. In contrast, our 21st century flying machine will have us in St. Louis within a few hours, and then we’ll begin our own journey along the Lewis & Clark Trail tomorrow.

ST. LOUIS

"I Set out at 4 oClock P. M. in the presence of many of the Neighbouring inhabitents, and proceeded on under a jentle brease up the Missourie …" —William Clark, May 14, 1804

Our modern-day adventure begins in Illinois on the east bank of the Mississippi River at approximately the same location where the Corps of Discovery set out in 1804. We ascend the Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower in an elevator, which slows to a stop at the 150-foot high observation deck. We are greeted by a bird’s-eye view of the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. The 2,341-mile Mighty Mo collects the drainage from more than a half million square miles of topography in parts of 10 states and two Canadian provinces.

Just down the road from the tower, we find the Lewis & Clark State Historic Site’s Visitor Center. Touring the exhibits, we’re fascinated by a full-scale replica of the type of keelboat used by the explorers. A cutaway section illustrates how every available space was packed full of provisions for the long trip.

We’re tingling with excitement as we start our 21st century expedition along the Lewis & Clark Trail. Crossing west over the Mississippi on the McKinley Bridge, the iconic Gateway Arch dominates the St. Louis skyline. A few minutes later, we’re parked and looking up in awe at this massive man-made structure.

We scan the grounds for the Visitor Center and Museum of Westward Expansion, but no such building is in plain sight. People walk