NOAA 2004-R462
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Glenda Powell
7/26/04

NOAA News Releases 2004
NOAA Home Page
NOAA Public Affairs


NOAA AND FT. ATKINSON, NEBRASKA, MARK THE LEWIS AND CLARK BICENTENNIAL

On July 31, 2004, NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Ft. Calhoun, Neb., will celebrate the bicentennial of the Corps of Discovery Expedition, led by explorers Meriweather Lewis and William Clark 200 years ago. NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey will set a commemorative marker on the grounds of Ft. Atkinson State Park.

The marker ceremony will be at 1:00 p.m. NOAA’s Project Manager for the Lewis and Clark Celebration, Steve Randall will make a presentation on “Jefferson’s Vision.” Director of the Nebraska Department of Roads, John Craig, will also make a presentation. This ceremony is part of the Official Lewis & Clark Bicentennial “National Signature Events,” of which there will be 15 nationally through 2006. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Equipped with only a few basic surveying tools, Lewis and Clark literally measured their way across unknown territory. Beginning at Wood River, Ill., in 1804, Lewis and Clark spent the next two years traveling through newly acquired territory that now includes Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. They reached the Pacific Ocean in 1805 and traveled back in 1806.

In January 2003, the Corps of Discovery II Expedition began retracing the steps of Lewis and Clark. The National Geodetic Survey placed a marker at Monticello in Charlottesville, Va., the home of Thomas Jefferson and symbolic starting point of the expedition. Jefferson initiated the Corps of Discovery Expedition with a letter to Congress in 1803. The design of the marker is based on the Jefferson Peace Medal, a memento that Lewis and Clark presented to American Indian leaders as they traveled west. The commemorative expedition will continue through 2006.

“Jefferson had an image of America as a land of small property ownership and well-defined boundaries,” said Charlie Challstrom, director of the National Geodetic Survey. “Lewis and Clark executed this vision, measuring their way across America with only a few basic surveying tools and resources at hand. Today, the geography of America continues to be more accurately depicted through NOAA and National Geodetic Survey use of advanced positioning technology.”

Each commemorative marker is located using a Global Positioning System device. The coordinates derived are a part of the National Spatial Reference System, which serves as the nation’s geodetic reference framework for latitude, longitude and elevation. The National Geodetic Survey establishes and maintains National Spatial Reference System, providing the foundation for transportation and communication systems, boundary and property surveys, land record systems, mapping and charting, and a multitude of scientific and engineering applications.

As a surveyor, Thomas Jefferson had a vision for a clear delineation of the United States coastline to reduce shipwrecks while expanding commerce and industry. Jefferson created the Coast and Geodetic Survey, to focus on the importance of geodesy, the science of measuring the size and shape of the earth, and the nation’s coasts. After a federal reorganization in 1970, part of Coast and Geodetic Survey became National Geodetic Survey, falling under the NOAA umbrella.

NOAA’s National Ocean Service, which includes the National Geodetic Survey, is dedicated to exploring, understanding, conserving and restoring the nation’s coasts and oceans. It balances environmental protection with economic prosperity in fulfilling its mission to promote safe navigation, support coastal communities, sustain coastal habits and mitigate coastal hazards.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA National Ocean Service: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov

NOAA National Geodetic Survey: http://geodesy.noaa.gov

NOAA’s Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Website: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/LewisAndClark/

National Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Website: http://www.lewisandclark200.gov

Pictures of commemorative marker:

Web image: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/images/lewis-clark-marker.jpg

High resolution: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/images/lewis-clark-marker2.jpg