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Program to Explore Lewis & Clark's Return Trip Through Region at the Bristol Public Library

September 01, 2014

Local history buffs have enjoyed stories of the exploits of Daniel Boone as he cut trails into the western wilderness and the living history that can be found at the Capital of the Southwest at Rocky Mount. Very few are aware of the pilgrimage by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the region as they returned in 1806 from their historic exploration of the West Coast. Their travels led them up the Great Valley Road through present Bristol and Washington County Virginia.

A special presentation is scheduled by the Bristol Historical Association on Monday, September 8 on the Eastern path of Lewis and Clark and an effort to extend the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail (LCNHT) through the Bristol area and Southwest Virginia. The speaker for this meeting will be Jim Mallory, the vice chairman of the Lewis and Clark Trust. Expected to be in attendance will be representatives of the Meriwether Lewis family and members of the Lewis and Clark National Heritage Trail Board.

James L. (Jim) Mallory has taken up the cause for a completed Lewis and Clark National Heritage Trail (LCNHT) that would extend east from the 1806 return trip of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at St Louis, Missouri. Lewis, Clark and their companions traveled along the Wilderness Road to the Great Valley Road ending their official journey at Monticello and conferring with Thomas Jefferson.

Along with this meeting Jim Mallory, members of the LCNHT and the Bristol Historical Association will be visiting historic sites and building interest in the extension of the official Lewis & Clark National Heritage Trail into East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

The September 8th presentation will be held in the J. Henry Kegley Meeting Room at the Bristol Public Library at 6:30pm and is in conjunction with the library’s mission of “Expanding Minds and Building Community.” The meeting is free and open to the public.

For details on the upcoming meeting and collaboration with the LCNHT contact Tim Buchanan, BHA President, by e-mail, buchanan03@bvu.net or visit the association’s Facebook page, Bristol History.