Flatboat float for Lewiston man

The flatboat Tom Eier and others took down the Mississippi.

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Story Published: Sep 27, 2009 at 8:38 PM PDT

Story Updated: Sep 27, 2009 at 8:38 PM PDT

By Anne Harding

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LEWISTON - It took two weeks by boat to make it from to St. Louis to Memphis along the Mississippi River, but lifelong Lewiston resident Tom Eier and 11 crew members took on the challenge in memory of Meriwether Lewis's final journey.

"Meriwether Lewis left St. Louis and headed to Washington D.C to defend the the Louisiana Purchase and Thomas Jefferson, his president," said Eier. "He left on a flatboat and we were fortunate enough to have Angela's Arc, which is a flatboat built to recreate the Sisters of Ursuline journey on the Ohio River. Thanks to Lewis-Clark State College and Lewis-Clark Credit Union we purchased that boat out of Lewiston to do the journey of 400 miles to Memphis, Tennessee."

The replica of the flatboat now sits in a museum. But Eier said it got plenty of use before that happened.

"The journey of 400 miles winds back and forth," said Eier. "If you look at the map the Mississippi River is literally oxbows, back and forth, back and forth, and going on those oxbows are actually football field wide and aircraft carrier long barges. Our job was to dodge those barges and survive."

Eier said journeys like this are important to sustain history. He encourages everyone to take part in preserving the memories of the LC Valley.

"Meriwether Lewis is who we were named after here in Lewiston," said Eier. "So I would encourage people to learn a little bit more. You can sign up at Lewis-Clark State College for the three-day class and it will be well worth it."

To hear all about Eier's trip and learn more about Meriwether Lewis you can visit the Lewis-Clark Discovery Center on October 1 and 2.

And on October 3 you can join him in on a trip along the Lewis-Clark trail to a canoe camp.

For more information visit www.lcsc.edu/ce

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