Jax Stumpes: Lewis & Clark Trip 1 A (3/26-27/2021)

Friday, March 26, 2021

Lewis & Clark Trip 1 A (3/26-27/2021)

Friday, March 26, 2021

Our goal is to follow the so-called Lewis & Clark Trail, but to start we will take a few smaller trips.

Today we will start in Washington, DC.

*On 2/23/1801, President Thomas Jefferson wrote to Meriwether Lewis, asking him to become the president’s secretary. Lewis began this position on 4/1/1801 and lived in the East Room of the President's House, now known as the White House.*

*In August 1802, Jefferson appointed Lewis as commander of an Expedition to the Pacific, partly through territory to be acquired from France (the Louisiana Purchase), to find a water route across the country to the Pacific Ocean. The purpose of this mission was multifaceted: commercial, scientific, and diplomatic.*

*On 1/18/1803, Jefferson requested $2,500 from Congress to fund the expedition.*

*On 3/15/1803, Lewis left Washington, DC, traveling by horseback, to begin preparations for the expedition.*

Lafayette Square (1824) with a statue (1910, by Albert Jaegers)
of Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, was at the time of
Meriwether Lewis, part of President's Park

A blocked view of the northern façade of the President's House/
White House (1792-1800, by James Hoban in neoclassical style)

On 6/5/2020, Washington, DC renamed 2 blocks
of 16th Street NW as Black Lives Matter Plaza

The same day, the street mural, Black Lives Matter, was painted

Meriwether Lewis, on horseback, surely did not have the problems we had trying to leave Washington, DC by car. Blocked streets and two-way streets designated one-way (the wrong way for us) during rush hour. We meant to follow the Maryland side of the Potomac River as closely as possible, but we were shunted to the Virginia side! Back on the Maryland side, we followed, for the most part, the Chesapeake and Ohio/C&O Canal Scenic Byway (construction of the canal did not begin until 1828).

View of the Potomac River from Chain Bridge

*On 3/16/1803, Meriwether Lewis arrived in Harpers Ferry.*

We arrived in Harpers Ferry, WV (but in 1803 it was in Virginia) and parked in a lot about a mile from the Lower Town. Our Senior National Park Pass took care of the park fee.

We first followed a section of The Appalachian Trail. Another chance to see Spring flowers.

Veronica repens/Creeping Speedwell

Okay! This climb was our introduction
to the Appalachian Trail!

Once near the top of the ridge, it was easier going

Harper shale outcropping

Hmm, Narcissus sp/Daffodils

Vinca minor/Periwinkle

Vinca minor 'Alba'/White Periwinkle

Arrived at Jefferson Rock, where Thomas Jefferson
is said to have stood in 1783 to admire the view

The rock originally stood on a narrow foundation and could
be rocked; erosion made it more dangerous so that four
stone pillars were placed under each corner of the
uppermost slab sometime between 1855 and 1860

Tamiko with Jefferson Rock on the west side (KSS)

Tamiko with Jefferson Rock (7/29/1999),
back when you could climb on the rocks (BAS)

Jefferson Rock from the east side

Jefferson Rock from the east side (7/29/1999)

View towards town from Jefferson Rock

Jefferson Rock with view towards town (7/29/1999)

Civil War ruins of St John's Episcopal Church (1851-1852) (KSS)

Ruins of St John's Episcopal Church (7/29/1999)

A series of fieldstone walls below the ruins of St John's
had doorways to root cellars and a springhouse

St Peter's Roman Catholic Church (1896 remodel
of 1831-1833 church that survived the Civil War)

Harper House (1775-1782, built by builder and millwright
Robert Harper, who also ran the ferry) is the
oldest surviving structure in the Lower Town

A Meriwether Lewis at Harpers Ferry marker indicates that at the time Jefferson and Lewis visited Harpers Ferry, this building was a tavern that rented rooms.