Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were Both Masons

#Thursday

From Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail:

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, like many men in leadership positions of their day, were both Masons. But Lewis clearly embraced the Masonic philosophies to a higher degree than did Clark. 

Lewis, at age 22, first joined the Door to Virtue Masonic Lodge #44 in his home of Albemarle, Virginia. He quickly rose to Royal Arch Mason, held office in the lodge and promoted charitable activities for the men to become involved in.

After returning from the Expedition, he became reinstated with the Masons at his earliest opportunity. He was then governor of the Louisiana Territory in St. Louis and in 1808, helped found St. Louis Lodge #111 and became its first “Worshipful Master.”

He continued his close ties to the fraternity – and even carried this Masonic apron with him on his fateful trip back to Washington in 1809. It was found neatly folded in the pocket of his coat when he died, stained with his blood. The apron, something each Mason received to wear during meetings and rituals, was recovered by Lewis’s family and eventually ended up as a treasured artifact of the Grand Lodge in Helena, Montana. 




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Dolley Madison's Support of the Expedition

#Wednesday

From Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail:

Still basking in the gain of the Louisiana Territory, most Americans of 1803 were proud of the incredible expansion of their new nation and waited eagerly to hear from the men of the Expedition as they explored the vast new territory with the goal of finding a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. 

According to Cokie Roberts’ book “Ladies of Liberty,” the women of Washington had so understood the importance of this mission that they supplemented the paltry congressional appropriation with a fund-raising drive, spearheaded by future first lady, Dolley Madison. Dolley often assisted President Jefferson in community affairs and entertaining at the President’s House (which worked out well, since the Madisons actually lived with Jefferson during the first year of his first term).

As her niece Mary E.E. Cutts later recalled, Dolley had a huge heart, and believed that Lewis & Clark “could never return from that land of savages.” Determined to supplement the miserly congressional appropriation of $2,500 for equipment, she organized the ladies of Washington and conducted a fundraiser to provide the Expedition with sack cloth, candle wax, lamps and lamp oil, cooking spices, canned goods, dried goods, writing materials, clothing and silver cooking utensils.

According to Dolley’s niece, when Lewis returned to Washington in December 1806, he brought the surviving silver service to Dolley and regaled the ladies with tales of “hair breath escapes and marvelous adventures,” along with “as many specimens as they could bring from so far off in the wilderness!” 




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Grupo Mexico to buy Florida rail line for $2.1 billion | Miami Herald

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexican mining and rail conglomerate Grupo Mexico says it has reached an agreement to buy Brightline parent Florida East Coast Railway Holdings Corporation for $2.1 billion from Fortress Investment Group.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article141265728.html#storylink=cpy

Grupo Mexico to buy Florida rail line for $2.1 billion | Miami Herald

Fort Atkinson

From Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail:

The spot where Lewis and Clark set up camp near today’s Fort Calhoun, Nebraska was just a few dozen yards from the banks of the Missouri. Since then the river has shifted northeast about a mile. In July 1804 at this place, a site which later became known as Fort Atkinson, the Captains hosted the first official council between the United States representatives and the western Indians. For this reason, it’s often referred to as “council bluffs.”

The Yellowstone Expedition of 1819 established Fort Atkinson as the first U.S. military post west of the Missouri River, based upon the recommendation of William Clark. Between 1820 and 1827, the fort was home to the first school and library in Nebraska, became the gateway to the fur regions of the Upper Missouri and the Rocky Mountains, and served as the starting point for several early expeditions to the Mexican settlements of Taos and Santa Fe.

You can visit a reconstructed 1820 log fort at the site. The Harold W. Andersen Visitor Center is open daily May 27 – September 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on weekends May 6 – May 21 and September 9 – October 8. Special “living history weekends” with live interpreters are May 6/7, June 3/4, July 1/2, August 5/6, September 2/3 and September 30/October 1. For more information, go to:www.fortatkinsononline.org.

The fort is just outside of Fort Calhoun, about 15 miles north of Omaha. 

Alabama mom, young daughter killed in separate car crashes within hour

A mother and her daughter were killed in separate car crashes within one hour on Tuesday, police in Alabama confirmed.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/23/mother-young-daughter-killed-in-separate-accidents-within-hour-in-alabama.html

Universal Access in Tucson

From Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail:

Masters of Landscape Architecture Students The University of Arizona are helping design for universal access in Tucson! They experienced the trail and the Santa Cruz River Park with the ASDB - Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind Orientation & Mobility teacher as the students do, to better inform their designs and project work.

The Anza Society is partnering with Pima County Natural ... See More

 — at Santa Cruz River Park. 

Long Stretch

From Federal Highway Administration:

It’s Throwback Thursday! Circa 1915 – “Long Stretch” of the National Old Trails Road near Frostburg, MD. http://ow.ly/tDCR309IveL