Sorry that the politically correct police have spoiled your celebration of the Lewis and Clark expedition, but they haven’t spoiled mine! I’m both commemorating and celebrating the glorious achievement of the Corps of Discovery (HCN, 8/16/04: Journey of Rediscovery).

It seems like our culture is no longer permitted to celebrate the seminal events of our history — while all other cultures are permitted to not only celebrate theirs, but to also demonize mine. I do so, not to celebrate the "Americanization of the West" that brought the demise of the native Indian domain, but to celebrate the importance of the expedition to the triumph of the United States of America from the Atlantic to the Pacific in securing these lands from Spain, France and Great Britain.

I make no apology for celebrating the country as it exists today — even if that meant the end of the native Indian nations that were supplanted in its growth. Would you prefer that the America we know have stopped at the Mississippi River and been peppered with a patchwork of native Indian nations? I’m fine with the country as it exists today — and the contribution of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and the men and lone woman (a native Indian at that) of the Corps of Discovery to its history. Let’s party!

R. Barry Crook
Austin, Texas