
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990                   TAG: 9003232706
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ERMINIE K. WRIGHT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CLARK EXPEDITION LEFT HIM POOR

WHILE not as prominent and influential as the Lewis connections of Lewis and Clark fame recently named to Explore committees, I am connected on the Clark side. However, I am opposed to this ambitious project of indeterminate cost to taxpayers.

My grandfather's mother was a Clark and in 1920, as a member of the Clark family, he received a handsome invitation to the dedication of a memorial in the Midwest to George Rogers Clark.

As the Explore advocates seek to connect Virginia with the settlement of the West, they should not overlook the fact that Virginia reneged on its financial obligation to George Rogers Clark, who established the Midwestern territory from which the Lewis and Clark expedition was launched.

Clark had to contend with the English, French and Spanish (all with interests in the territory) and with the Indians. His ability to deal with the Indians won them to his side. With the aid of the Indians and the French, Clark established the territory for Virginia and the United States.

The Lewis and Clark expedition was saved from starvation by a young Indian woman who was brought into the group by a man employed as interpreter. When food ran out and game was not always available, she found roots and herbs to sustain the starving men.

When some became ill from bad food or the lack of it, she doctored them. She served as guide on the last and most dangerous leg of the journey because she knew the way to her own people in the Northwest, from whom she had been stolen by another tribe. The greatest honor for the conquest of the Northwest is deserved by George Rogers Clark and the Indian maiden, Sacajawea.

George Rogers and William Clark were men of honor, respected by the Indians with whom they made agreements that were broken by the United States.

George Rogers Clark spent his entire fortune to finance his operations, expecting to be reimbursed by the state of Virginia, as agreed. When Virginia refused to pay him, he was forced to sell the claims to his lands in the territory at a pittance of their value to provide the necessities of life. Others became wealthy from his and other land in the territory, but Clark died a poor and broken man.

It is encouraging to note that the Archaeologiocal Society of Virginia seems not too enthusiastic about the Explore Project, and it is hoped that its influence will help prevent the Ewert fantasy from becoming an unlimited financial burden to the taxpayers. It is inexcusable to force people from their homes on land settled by their ancestors, and have their way of life destroyed, for the benefit of a few.

Explore is not a generally popular project, but it now seems to be customary for a small self-appointed minority to control the majority.

by CNB