In our efforts to bring Lewis and Clark into understanding, we took the class outside to measure the actual footprint of the famous keelboat. We attained a pretty good picture of the 8' x 55' wooden watercraft. A glance at the gym wall also gave us an idea of the height of the 30-foot hinged mast that was positioned in the center of the boat. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark called this boat the barge in their journals. We remarked the needs of the expedition to have a narrow, flat-bottomed boat that could effectively carry several tons of supplies, Indian trade items, and foodstuffs, as well as a majority of the men traveling with the group.
