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Noted Historian and Filmmaker Dayton Duncan Captures Hearts, Minds in Des Moines
More than 550 people crowded into the State Historical Building in April to hear
Iowa native and historian Dayton Duncan deliver an inspiring and emotional presentation
about his favorite topic—the Lewis & Clark expedition across North America
(1804-1806).
While Duncan, who was born and raised in Indianola, is best known for his collaboration with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns on “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” and “Jazz,” it is the Lewis & Clark Expedition that has clearly become his obsession.
“Across the time and the generations, I consider Meriwether Lewis to be a very close friend,” Duncan told the audience while choking back tears in response to a question about how the two explorers died.
With Governor Tom Vilsack and First Lady Christie Vilsack in attendance, Duncan brought Lewis & Clark’s story to life with a vivid and engaging retelling of their treacherous journey up the Missouri River—from St. Louis to the head waters, from the Continental Divide to the Columbia River, and finally, to the Pacific Ocean. He recounted their hardships, discoveries and accomplishments; the Native Americans who befriended them; the newly discovered wildlife and vegetation; the raging rivers; the impassable mountains; and the constant nuisance of mosquitoes.
Duncan said the Lewis & Clark Expedition captures the hearts of so many people because it is the ultimate American road trip.
“Think about it,” Duncan said. “It's America's story. There's something in there for everybody. If you're interested in an adventure, it’s a road trip. Two guys go West. If you're interested in science, they're out discovering new plants, new animals, new territory. If you're interested in, ‘What did the Indians look like before the United States moved West,’ it tells you that, it answers those questions for you. Whatever it is that you want, it's there. It's a tremendous cast of characters, it's an adventure story, it’s science, it’s history. It's everything rolled up into one.”
Most of all, however, Duncan said the Lewis & Clark Expedition was the pivotal event in American history that helped shape and define the future of America’s development and growth as the country we know today.
“That's what this expedition was about,” Duncan said. “It was a journey into the future. The United States that followed them spent a century retracing their steps, both literally going across the United States, going across to the ocean, and figuratively—encountering Indians, looking at the landscape, dealing with phenomenal wildlife. So they went there first. We're a nation who loves firsts. We are obsessed with it, you know. Here is the first church of this town, or here was the first school house. Well they are first in so many, many respects that they hold this special niche, I think, for Americans because we love firsts.”
Duncan’s visit to the Historical Building came as part of the Des Moines
Public Library’s Avid (Authors Visiting in Des Moines) lecture series, which
is now in its fifth year.
