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
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline I’m celebrating!.
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