Nebraska, Douglas County, Omaha
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Between 1804 and 1806, the Corps of Discovery traveled from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific coast and back. President Jefferson instructed Meriwether Lewis to collect information on "the soil & face of the country, [its] growth & vegetable productions...the animals of the country generally, especially those not of the U.S." In fulfilling these instructions, members of the Expedition were the first to describe for science 122 animals and 178 plants. The explorers' written descriptions and the seeds and specimens they collected were Jefferson's window onto the new west.
In 1805, the keelboat returned to Washington D.C. carrying 4 magpies, a prairie dog, and a sharp-tailed grouse. Only the prairie dog and one magpie survived the journey. Believing that "everything that comes from Louisiana must be interesting to the public," Jefferson sent these two living pieces of the west to be displayed in Philadelphia.
Black tailed prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)
eulachon (Thaleichtys pacificus)
"he presented us with some Anchovies [eulachon] which had been well cured in their manner, we [found] them excellent."
Meriwether Lewis, March 6, 1806
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
"I have reason to beleive...that there are several species of the seal on this coast...when we first saw those animals...we conseived they were the Sea Otter, but the indians here have undeceived us."
Meriwether Lewis, February 23, 1806
Camas (Camassia quamash)
"the quawmash is now in blume and from the colour of its bloom at a short distance it resembles lakes of fine clear water..."
Western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)
"we meet with a beautiful little bird...the plumage is remarkably delicate; that of the neck and head is of a fine orange yellow and red"
Meriwether Lewis, June 6, 1806
Badger (Taxidea taxus neglecta)
"it is very clumsy and runs very slow. I have in two instances out run this animal and caught it. in this respect they are not much more fleet than the porcupine."
Meriwether Lewis, February 26, 1806
Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia fragilis)
"my feet is verry much brused & cut...& constantly Stuck full Prickley pear thorns, I puled out 17 by the light of the fire..."
William Clark, July 19, 1805
Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos)
"these bear being so hard to die reather intimedates us all..."
Meriwether Lewis, May 11, 1805
Pronghorn antelope (Antilocarpa Americana)
"a curious annamil resembling a Goat...the legs like a Deer. feet like a Goat. horns like a Goat only forked....Such an anamil was never yet known in U. S. States."
John Ordway, September 14, 1804
Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)
"[S]o much do...[the Osage Indians] esteem the wood of this tree for...making their bows, that they travel many hundreds of miles in quest of it....The Indians give an extravigant account of the exquisite odour of this fruit when it has obtained maturity...."
Meriwether Lewis letter to Thomas Jefferson, March 26, 1804
Black-billed magpie (Pica pica)
(Animals • Environment • Exploration • Patriots & Patriotism) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Between 1804 and 1806, the Corps of Discovery traveled from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific coast and back. President Jefferson instructed Meriwether Lewis to collect information on "the soil & face of the country, [its] growth & vegetable productions...the animals of the country generally, especially those not of the U.S." In fulfilling these instructions, members of the Expedition were the first to describe for science 122 animals and 178 plants. The explorers' written descriptions and the seeds and specimens they collected were Jefferson's window onto the new west.
In 1805, the keelboat returned to Washington D.C. carrying 4 magpies, a prairie dog, and a sharp-tailed grouse. Only the prairie dog and one magpie survived the journey. Believing that "everything that comes from Louisiana must be interesting to the public," Jefferson sent these two living pieces of the west to be displayed in Philadelphia.
Black tailed prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)
eulachon (Thaleichtys pacificus)
"he presented us with some Anchovies [eulachon] which had been well cured in their manner, we [found] them excellent."
Meriwether Lewis, March 6, 1806
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
"I have reason to beleive...that there are several species of the seal on this coast...when we first saw those animals...we conseived they were the Sea Otter, but the indians here have undeceived us."
Meriwether Lewis, February 23, 1806
Camas (Camassia quamash)
"the quawmash is now in blume and from the colour of its bloom at a short distance it resembles lakes of fine clear water..."
Western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)
"we meet with a beautiful little bird...the plumage is remarkably delicate; that of the neck and head is of a fine orange yellow and red"
Meriwether Lewis, June 6, 1806
Badger (Taxidea taxus neglecta)
"it is very clumsy and runs very slow. I have in two instances out run this animal and caught it. in this respect they are not much more fleet than the porcupine."
Meriwether Lewis, February 26, 1806
Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia fragilis)
"my feet is verry much brused & cut...& constantly Stuck full Prickley pear thorns, I puled out 17 by the light of the fire..."
William Clark, July 19, 1805
Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos)
"these bear being so hard to die reather intimedates us all..."
Meriwether Lewis, May 11, 1805
Pronghorn antelope (Antilocarpa Americana)
"a curious annamil resembling a Goat...the legs like a Deer. feet like a Goat. horns like a Goat only forked....Such an anamil was never yet known in U. S. States."
John Ordway, September 14, 1804
Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)
"[S]o much do...[the Osage Indians] esteem the wood of this tree for...making their bows, that they travel many hundreds of miles in quest of it....The Indians give an extravigant account of the exquisite odour of this fruit when it has obtained maturity...."
Meriwether Lewis letter to Thomas Jefferson, March 26, 1804
Black-billed magpie (Pica pica)
(Animals • Environment • Exploration • Patriots & Patriotism) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Within this crescent shaped valley is the beautiful 37-room Dunsmuir House, an example of colonial revival Victorian architecture. Built in 1899 on a 415 acre estate by Alexander Dunsmuir, heir to a Canadian coal and lumber fortune, for his bride Mrs. Josephine Wallace. He died in 1900 and she in 1901. In 1906, her daughter Edna Wallace Hooper, sold it to the I.W. Hellman, Jr. family who used it as a summer residence for over 50 years. Now located on a 49 acre site, it belongs to the City of Oakland and is being restored by Dunsmuir House and Gardens, Inc., a non-profit corporation.
By 1867, the Freedmen's Bureau began educating African Americans recently freed from enslavement in Wytheville and soon a building was constructed for the students. In 1882, the Evansham School District and the Franklin Street Methodist Episcopal Church purchased the Freedmen's School and erected a larger school here that became known as the Wytheville Training School. By the late 1940s the school provided secondary school education to African Americam Students from Wythe, Bland, Carroll, and Grayson Counties, as well. The school closed in 1951. The following year a new building opened—Scott Memorial High School—in memory of Richard Henry Scott, an early black educator in the region.
Rutledge was the first county seat of Crenshaw County and held that position from March 1867 to May 1893. Originally called Barber’s Cross Roads, it was briefly named Crenshaw; but June 10, 1867, it was changed to Rutledge in honor of Captain Henry Rutledge, Company H. 59th Alabama Infantry, C.S.A.
The Rutledge Primitive Baptist Church was built circa 1890, on land donated by Thomas Warren Shows and his family. The Rutledge Primitive Baptist Church was a member of the Ebenezer Primitive Baptist Association, which was formed in 1837. It was one of the first churches built in Crenshaw County. The church building was donated to the town of Rutledge in 2006 by the remaining members’ families.
Constituted in 1833 about 1 mile northwest of this location with 10 charter members. The Church was admitted to the Conecuh River Baptist Association in November 1833. In 1863, the Church moved to this location on land bought from Benjamin Dorman where a building was erected. Services continued until August 1981, when the building was destroyed by arson.
Side 1
Welcome to the Joseph R. Brown Minnesota River Center.
Montpelier's Nicholas Snowden established an early Snowden family grist mill by 1811 at the fall line of the Patuxent River. A cotton mill was built and leased to a Mr. Johnson in 1824, and the site also may have included a saw mill. 
Laurel's earliest mill was established on land originally inhabited by Native Americans. The early mills were located on the banks of the Patuxent River at the fall line. Here the River elevation changes and provides an excellent source of water power.
- The Kennedy Mine -
You are standing on property that once belonged to the Kennedy Mine. The Kennedy Mine is named for Andrew Kennedy, who reportedly discovered a quartz ledge in the late 1850s. The Kennedy Mining Company was formed in 1860 when he and three partners began digging shafts near today’s mine property entrance. The mine operated sporadically until it closed in 1878. In 1886, fifteen people invested $97,000 to reopen the mine as the Kennedy Mine and Milling Co. There are many miles of underground tunnels beneath the area you are standing and looking out upon. The Kennedy extracted $28,600,000 in gold before being closed in 1942 by government decree. 
