Montana: Stories of the Land

Chapter 4 - Newcomers Explore the Region, 1742 - 1827

Manifest Destiny

This chapter introduces the term "Manifest Destiny." In fact, the term was not used until after 1845, when newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the phrase. However, the idea captured by that phrase (that Americans had a special destiny to extend civilization across the continent) is much older than the phrase itself. Long before 1845, the ideology encapsulated in the term "Manifest Destiny" provided a philosophical rationale for westward expansion, which included the Louisiana Purchase. If you wish to extend the conversation on Manifest Destiny, you might consider having students analyze John Gast's 1872 print, American Progress. That image, reproduced on page 132 of the textbook, encapsulates nineteenth-century Euro-American ideas about westward expansion. See the OPI model IEFA lesson plan on the subject.

Indian Perspectives on European
Exploration

The theme of European exploration provides a great opportunity to talk about point of view. Historians often talk about "Lewis and Clark meeting the Indians." What changes if you talk about "the Indians meeting Lewis and Clark"? Older textbooks celebrated the Corps of Discovery; more recently, Indian writers have pointed out that everything the European explorers encountered had been "discovered" thousands of years earlier. Traditional (Eurocentric) perspectives on the Age of Exploration are easy to find. More difficult to find is material written from tribal perspectives. Here are some good starting points.

The Regional Learning Project's website, trailtribes.org, offers "history with a tribal perspective along trails followed by Lewis and Clark." The Newberry Library's virtual exhibit, Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country: 200 Years of American History, also offers Indian perspectives, including interviews with tribal members on various topics related to the expedition.

In 2006, the Northern Cheyenne issued this statement detailing the reasons their tribe would not be celebrating the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. 

For a Salish perspective, see the The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, by Salish-Pend d'Oreille Culture Committee, Elders Cultural Advisory Council and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005).

Another interesting book is Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes: Nine Indian Writers on the Legacy of the Expedition, by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. (New York: Knopf, 2006).

The Other Explorers

While Lewis and Clark have dominated the American imagination, other explorers were equally important. Pathfinders and Passageways: The Exploration of Canada  contains information on David Thompson and Alexander Mackenzie. Good David Thompson information can also be found on the Northwest Journal's website and in the Archives of Ontario's online David Thompson exhibit.

Other resources available include

Educational Trunks

Discover the Corps of Discovery: The Lewis and Clark Expedition in Montana from the Montana Historical Society. This trunk, which traces the Corps' journey through Montana and their encounters with American Indians, includes bison and grizzly hides, trade goods, books, artist renditions of the expedition, a compass, and other relevant artifacts.

Lifeways of Montana's First People from the Montana Historical Society. This trunk emphasizes the various tribal lifeways of the people who utilized the land we now know as Montana in the years around 1800.

Websites and Online Lesson Plans

"When Worlds Collide: The Salish People Encounter the Lewis and Clark Expedition" is a flexible one- to four-day learning activity designed is a flexible one- to four-day learning activity designed to challenge students to grapple with historical evidence and to better recognize the complexity of native-white encounters.

PBS created this website to accompany their Ken Burns Lewis and Clark documentary. It is packed with information, lesson plans, and activities.

Discovering Lewis and Clark is the most comprehensive resource for history and trail information on the web. Without guidance, students may find it overwhelming.

Two online exhibits, Exploring the West from Monticello and Lewis and Clark: The Maps of Exploration, provide in-depth information about geography at the time of Lewis and Clark.

"Lewis and Clark in Montana-A Geologic Perspective" is a rich, online resource detailing the geography, geology, minerals and fossils described by Lewis and Clark.

Videos or DVDs

Assiniboine Chief Rosebud Remembers Lewis and Clark, Valley County Historical Society - 35 minutes. (Check your library. OPI donated a copy of this DVD to every public school in Montana. An associated Indian Education For All lesson plan is available.) 

Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, directed by Ken Burns - 240 minutes. Available through PBS

Native Homelands along the Lewis and Clark Trail, by the University of Montana Lifelong Learning Project - 35 minutes. Available through the bookstore of the University of Montana

The Story of the Bitterroot, Looking Glass Films - 64 minutes. (Check your library. OPI donated a copy of this DVD to every public school in Montana.

Two Worlds at Two-Medicine: The Blackfeet Meet Meriwether Lewis, Going-to-the-Sun Institute and Native View Pictures - 35 minutes. (Check your library. OPI donated a copy of this DVD to every public school in Montana. An associated Indian Education For All lesson plan is available.)

View from the Shore: Native American Perspectives on the Lewis & Clark Expedition, by Black Dog Films - 27 minutes. Available as a free download through the OPI Indian Education Division 
 

Possible Fieldtrips

Gates of the Mountains boat tour, near Helena 

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Great Falls 

Missouri Headwaters State Park, Three Forks
(Related IEFA lesson plans are available.)

Montana Historical Society's exhibit Neither Empty Nor Unknown: Montana at the Time of Lewis and Clark, Helena

Pompey's Pillar, 28 miles east of Billings

Travelers' Rest State Park, Lolo
(Related IEFA lesson plans are available.)

For more Lewis and Clark related sites, see Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks' Discovery Points brochure.

Alignment to Content Standards and Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians (EU)

Tests and Answer Keys