By LYNNETTE HINTZEThe Daily Inter Lake

Two hundred years ago last week, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their historic trek across the territory that would eventually become Montana.

Flathead Valley fourth-graders marked the bicentennial with a two-hour history lesson filled with animated stories, hands-on exhibits and Blackfeet Indian dancers.

Throughout last week, more than 600 students made their way through the celebratory exposition at The Museum at Central School in what executive director Gil Jordan called a "logistical miracle."

The Flathead Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation was at the helm of the bicentennial celebration.

Students had obviously done their homework. As speakers posed questions about specifics of Lewis and Clark's time in Montana, the students eagerly raised hands to explain what bull boats and portages were. They knew all about Pompey's Pillar, too.

The foundation sent advance materials to teachers to help prepare the students.

While fourth-graders were enthralled with the stories, some weren't sure they'd be up to the

task of such an expedition.

"I wouldn't do it because you'd get stranded out there," said Brynn Ingraham, a student at Muldown Elementary School in Whitefish.

Classmate Kelsey Morrison wasn't sure she'd want to work that hard. Both girls were fascinated by how members of the expedition made the various tools they used along the way, such as the bull boats crafted from willows and hides.

The boys in the Muldown class seemed adventurous. Jon Jacobs and Ryan Stipe said they wouldn't be the least bit scared starting out into the unknown as Lewis and Clark did. As for the Indian dancing that wrapped up Thursday's session, Jacobs exclaimed it was "really cool."

It was April 27, 1805, when Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery entered Montana near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. They anticipated being only a few weeks away from the Pacific Ocean as they pursued an all-water route, the mythical Northwest Passage.

Instead, they'd spend the next 140 days in Montana, covering some 1,100 miles, said Jerry Yenne, a retired teacher who delivered one of the presentations.

Yenne pointed out that Lewis and Clark probably experienced more diversity in terms of wildlife, weather and landscape than anywhere else during their journey.

"They also wrote more in their journals in Montana than at any other time," he said.

Lewis wrote that he observed "immense herds of Buffaloe, Elk, deer & Antelopes feeding in one common and boundless pasture."

Patrick Jones, a Bigfork bookstore owner with a passion for Lewis and Clark history, helped Yenne explain the story of the expedition through Montana, noting the dangers Montana's grizzly bears posed for the group. Lewis documented he'd "reather fight two Indians than one bear."

Yet bear meat was sought after by the explorers, and they smeared bear fat on their skin to keep mosquitoes away, Jones said.

The Montana trek came with its share of physical challenges, such as the infamous 18-mile portage around a series of five cascades on the Missouri River in the vicinity of present-day Great Falls. Prickly pear spines penetrated the soles of their moccasins, adding to the misery of the exhausting portage.

Students learned all kinds of Lewis and Clark trivia. The explorers spent two July 4 Independence Day holidays in Montana. Pompey's Pillar, the unusual rock formation on the south bank of the Yellowstone River, was named after Sacagawea's son. Lewis' dog was named Seaman.

And there are only two places in the state where evidence still exists that the famous explorers passed through here - Clark's initials and the date, July 25, 1806, carved in Pompey's Pillar, and Traveler's Rest, a campsite near Lolo where the group spent four days on the way back from the West Coast.

In 2002, archeologists found evidence of the Corps of Discovery's latrine and fire pits, Jones said.

"You should go and visit it. You'll love it," Jones encouraged the students. "We ate it up."

Traces of mercury from medicine used by the explorers was found at the site, leading archeologists to determine the actual location of the latrine, Yenne added.

Both Yenne and Jones are members of the Flathead Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. The club got several corporate sponsors and help from many community residents to put the celebration together.

Club president JoLynn Yenne was pleased at the student's response.

"We're just making sure children enjoy history," she said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com