The 1803–06 expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory and the Pacific Northwest by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark produced landmark discoveries in geography, botany, zoology, and ethnology. However, their mineral collecting and geological observations have long been underappreciated and at times unfairly maligned by expedition scholars.
In his new book, Scenes of Visionary Enchantment: The Geology of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, professional geologist John W. Jengo reassesses the pair's role in documenting the geology of the American West and the impact on scientific inquiry. Through in-depth research into the expedition journals and geologial reports, he argues that Lewis and Clark created an accurate account of the geology of the region and admirably fulfilled Thomas Jefferson’s instructions to document the “mineral productions of every kind” of the American West.
Richly illustrated with dozens of photographs of the acclaimed 8,000-mile-long Lewis and Clark Trail, captured over a nearly 30-year period of travel, research, and discovery, Jengo’s talk will trace the fate of the rock, mineral, and fossil specimens that Lewis and Clark collected. The presentation will conclude with a reappraisal of the geoscience content of the rephrased expedition journals published in 1814 and its broad influence on 19th-century scientific inquiry.
An evening lecture series, Weeknights at the Wagner, invites experts into our Victorian lecture hall to speak on a range of science and history of science related subjects. Each talk includes a Q&A with the speaker.
Program Schedule:
Museum open until 5:45 pm.
6 - 7:30 pm: Talk, Q&A, and book signing in the Lecture Hall.