An archive of the Pittsburgh Annual Meeting held August 7–10, 2022.
Down the Ohio 1803: The Journey Begins
“Left Pittsburgh this day at 11 ock with a party of 11 hands 7 of which are soldiers, a pilot and three young men on trial they having proposed to go with me throughout the voyage.”
—Meriwether Lewis, August 31, 1803
Meeting Location: Senator John Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Accommodations
Hampton Inn & Suites Pittsburgh-Downtown
1247 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Drury Plaza Hotel*
Pittsburgh Downtown, 745 Grant St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
1-800-325-0720, www.druryhotels.com
More about the historic Drury Plaza Hotel (PDF).
Acknowledgments
- Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation
- National Park Service – Friendship Hill National Historic Site
- National Park Service – Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Senator John Heinz History Center
Online Auction
If you have items for the online auction, please contact Sarah, director@lewisandclark.org or della@lewisandclark.org.
Preliminary Program
Saturday
- Board Meeting, Drury Plaza Hotel
Sunday
- Meeting registration, Drury Plaza Hotel
- Molly’s Trolleys tour of Pittsburgh
- Reception on the rooftop “Under the Stars” at the Drury Plaza Hotel
Monday
- Business meeting
- French and Indian War
- Albert Gallatin
- Auction opens
- Evening social: Pittsburgh trivia
Tuesday
- Panel discussion about building Lewis’ keelboat
- Jefferson scholar Bill Barker presents
- Awards luncheon
- Canal Transportation, the Whiskey Rebellion, and Pittsburgh in 1803
- Screening of the film classic Almost Heroes
- Auction ends, winners announced
Wednesday
- Update from the superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Jim Holmberg presents the Moulton Lecture
- Enchanted evening dinner cruise aboard the Gateway Clipper with a view of Lewis’ journey by water
Sunday–Wednesday
- Morning wellness walks. Earn double points for your team!
Photo by Janice Wilson
Located atop Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington overlooking the Ohio River is the historic marker, dedicated in August 2019, commemorating the inception of Lewis’ trip “Down the Ohio in 1803.” Upriver from the sign is the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which come together to form the Ohio River. Downriver is Brunot(s) Island, the first stop for Lewis and his crew on their westward journey.
Brunots Island is the site of the nearly tragic incident with the air gun in which a woman was shot but quickly recovered. Lewis mentioned in his journal that Blais(z)e Cenas was the person on the island who fired the air gun and inadvertently hit the woman. Cenas became a postmaster in New Orleans and is buried in that city’s cemetery. Thomas Rodney, traveling down the Ohio at the same time as Lewis, also described the air gun in his journal. Rodney later became a respected judge in the Mississippi Territory.