Geography Corner
By CHRIS ROWAN

Question: Where was Camp Disappointment?

Answer: Montana

In 1805, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his private secretary, US Army Captain Meriwether Lewis, to explore the region that had been acquired from France under the Louisiana Purchase of 1803—an area of 828,000 square miles that extended from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

Lewis brought along his old army buddy, William Clark, on this endeavor. Although Clark was only Lieutenant Clark, Lewis referred to his as “Captain” so that the 40 men in their exploration party would look upon Lewis and Clark as joint leaders.

The expedition took two years and four months to complete as the men trudged through 8,000 miles of uncharted territory from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back. Camp Disappointment was the northern most point of their expedition, which they reached on July 23, 1806. It received its name because the river marking the northern boundary of the Louisiana territory was not as far north as the explorers expected. (Lewis named the river Marias, after his cousin, Maria Wood.) In addition, the site did not look like a good economic prospect, since it wasn’t close to the Canadian fur trade. To add insult to injury, the weather was awful, and when the explorers left, Lewis wrote in his journal: “We set out biding a lasting adieu to this place which I now call camp disappoint (sic).”

A monument marking the site of Camp Disappointment is 12 miles northeast of Browning, Montana, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. In 1862, Gold was discovered in the section of the Louisiana territory referred to as “Montana,” due to its mountainous terrain. Copper and silver were eventually found there as well. Known as “the Treasure State,” Montana was admitted to the Union as a State on November 8, 1889.

Stay tuned for the next Geography Corner: Which war has the most monuments commemorating it in New York City, and why? Readers are invited to reply to ednews1@aol.com. If we print your answer, you will receive two free movie tickets.