(First day of sale August 4, 2004 (pre-order) – Available on August 18, 2004.) The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) proudly presents "The Westward Journey," the second in a series of two Commemorative Intaglio Print Cards. This engraved masterpiece will be released in conjunction with the BEP’s participation at the American Numismatic Association show in Pittsburgh, PA, August, 2004. Only 2,500 of these cards were produced for sale.
"The Westward Journey" Intaglio Print Card features the engravings of state shields for all 11 states through which the Corps of Discovery traveled during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The shields are placed in the order the men came upon them – Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. State shields (or coat of arms) were produced for the states in which national banks were chartered and were incorporated into the designs of the backs of National Bank Notes of the first and second charter periods.
On May 14, 1804, nearly four dozen men including York, and Lewis’ Newfoundland dog, Seaman, set off on an expedition from Camp Dubois on the east bank of the Mississippi, near St. Louis. Traveling in a large keelboat and two smaller boats called pirogues, 14 miles a day was considered good progress for the group. The expedition used any means possible to advance upriver: sailing, rowing, using setting poles, and wading along the bank pulling the boats behind them with ropes.
The expedition traversed the area of Great Falls, Montana, the mouth of the Yellowstone, River, and the White Cliffs of the Missouri. They crossed the Continental Divide and the Bitterroot Mountains. In mid-November, 1805, nearly 554 days and 4,132 miles from the launch of their journey, the captains stood upon the sands of the Pacific Ocean. They had reached the objective of their adventure. On the way home, near present-day Billings, Montana, Clark inscribed his name and date on a rock formation he named Pompy’s Tower, in honor of Sacagawea’s son. This remains the only physical evidence the Corps of Discovery left on the landscape that survives to this day.
September 23rd, 1806 marked the men’s last day as the Corps of Discovery. They returned home to St. Louis after having been gone for nearly two and a half years.
