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Lewis and Clark kin seek other descendants By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Medford resident Michelle Simmons Morgan's extended family will get together for a reunion at Fort Clatsop on the northern Oregon Coast in 2004. Some are likely to be distant cousins she has never met, much less knew about. But they all will have a common bond as descendants of members of the 1804-1806 expedition by Capts. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The gathering is part of the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery Descendant Project, an effort by two Washington state women to locate the kin of all the explorers on the famous expedition. Capt. Clark was Morgan's great-great-great-great-great-uncle. His youngest sister, Frances Eleanor Clark, was her grandmother, five generations back. "This is something I'm definitely interested in," Morgan said. "Ever since I was a kid, I've always been very interested in learning more about the Lewis and Clark expedition." The deadline for applying as a descendant is Dec. 31, 2003. A candidate must prove his or her lineage and pay a $3 registration fee. For their effort, descendants receive a certificate of their pioneer lineage and a ticket to the "Lewis and Clark family" reunion planned for 2004 at Fort Clatsop, the site where the expedition spent one winter. Sandra L. Hargrove of Long Beach, Wash., came up with the idea as a fund-raiser for local genealogy societies. She launched the research two years ago after teaming up with friend Louise Lewis Rennacker, a collateral descendant of Meriwether Lewis. The descendants are limited to the 34 members who traveled from what is now North Dakota to the coast and back, as well as one man who died of what historians believe was appendicitis. That number included an Indian woman, Sacagawea, and York, a slave. But "collateral descendants" of the explorers, rather than just direct descendants, are also being sought. That would include descendants of brothers, sisters and even cousins of expedition members. Thus far, only 50 direct descendants and 18 collateral descendants have been documented. The goal is to publish a genealogical catalog of the descendants in 2004. The Oregon Historical Society has expressed interest in publishing it. However, an applicant must be able to provide documented proof of bloodlines which can include birth, death and marriage certificates as well as census records. Portland-born Morgan, a 1973 graduate of Medford Senior High School, has the documentation. "I have copies of wills and genealogical information tracing my family back to the 1400s in England," she said. She even has a silver brush and comb set once owned by the granddaughter of Frances Eleanor Clark. That ancestor was married to Samuel T. Hauser, the last territorial governor of Montana. But mostly she has collected books and papers about her ancestors, including her other great uncle to the fifth power, George Rogers Clark, the famous American general of Revolutionary War fame. "The whole family has always been patriotic," she said. "They all cared a lot about this country." Morgan doesn't know what William Clark and his fellow hardy travelers would think of today's world. "I know they wanted to look toward the future," she said. "They went to explore this part of the country, to open up more opportunities for Americans." Someday she and her husband, Allen, would like to follow the footsteps of her famous ancestor, she said. "We'd loved to retrace the trail taken by Lewis and Clark," she said. For additional information on the Lewis & Clark Corps Of Discovery Descendant Project, check out the Web site: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mogenweb/project.htm Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.