Lewis and Clark Climb Old Baldy and Find Their First Prairie Dogs!
On September 7, 1804—two hundred eighteen years ago—-the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped along the Missouri River in what is now Boyd County, Nebraska. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark walked together up the hill that Clark described as a “cone” or a “cupeleow” [cupola]. The white dome that still rises above the rest of the landscape is now called “Old Baldy.” The men on the Expedition could see Old Baldy from their boats as they came up the river, and now you can view Old Baldy from Utopia Road in the Sunshine Bottom area north of Lynch. On the right side of the photo below, you can view a small slice of the MNRR, with South Dakota in the background.
It was on this day that the Expedition found their first prairies dogs. They ate one, but they caught another one live by pouring water down the hole. The Journal entries written by men on the Expedition give a lively account of what happened on September 7, 1804. (Spelling has certainly changed a lot since then!)
