October 2020: Telling Stories Around the Campfire...and in Other Park Places

October: Telling Stories Around the Campfire...and in Other Park Places

The National Park Service is America's storyteller. With so many stories in parks, trails and our communities, there are endless possibilities for creative expression.

Gather folks ‘round the (literal or figurative) campfire to tell a story. In the proud tradition of rangering, share your favorite stories or “ranger lore” from your trail, site, park, NPS program, or partnership. Invite people to tell their own favorite stories from parks or of past park memories.

• Showcase your site’s connection to the arts, including how arts were used in the past or today
• Encourage local businesses to submit nominations to the Lewis and Clark NHT tourism website, www.lewisandclark.travel. The site aggregates user-generated content showcasing things to do and places to visit that have been nominated by residents along the Trail. To get started, go to www.lewisandclark.travel/register.
• Host a ranger campfire, living history, or story time event and share some ranger favorites.
• Invite traditional storytellers from the community, including from your own staff, to share stories with visitors and staff.
• Ask staff, partners, and visitors to tell their own favorite tales and adventures about the trail (or from working in the park).
• Interpret natural, cultural, or recreational resources in story form.
• Highlight objects in your museum collection connected with compelling stories or lore.
• Highlight staff, careers, and partnerships that preserve, collect, or interpret stories, such as through neighborhood trails, scientific research, or oral history projects.

Featured NPS.gov/lecl Webpages

Stories This page contains many stories related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition organized by theme.

Honoring Tribal Legacies: Exploring Your Community Designed for use in intermediate education, “Exploring Your Community,” has been authored by curriculum designer Carol Buswell of the National Archives and Records Administration. She writes: “We can understand ourselves and our communities in a broader and more meaningful way by conducting research using a wide variety of methods gathered from various disciplines and peoples.”

Looking for something ready-made to share?

The expansive Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail auto tour route provides a way to travel the Lewis and Clark Expedition by car. #LewisandClarkTrail

https://www.nps.gov/lecl/learn/historyculture/auto-tour-route.htm

Want to make your own #LewisandClarkTrail memories? Let the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Experience website assist you in planning. https://lewisandclark.travel/

Learn about Lewis and Clark Expedition without leaving home. Become a Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Junior Ranger by simply completing the online Junior Ranger program. #LewisandClarkTrail
Learn more: https://www.nps.gov/lecl/learn/kidsyouth/beajuniorranger.htm
Social Media hashtags: #FindYourPark, #FindYourTrail, #LewisandClarkTrail

Lewis and Clark Events That Happened This Month

(ready made posts to share)

Meriwether Lewis died a violent death in the early morning hours of October 11, 1809 – at the age of 35, just three years after the completion of the most successful exploration mission in American history. #LewisandClarkTrail
More: https://www.nps.gov/articles/lewis-s-death.htm

As Meriwether Lewis and party journeyed down the Ohio in the early fall of 1804, the keelboat frequently encountered ripples or “riffles “ – short sections of the river where the autumn water level was so low the large vessel had to be lifted or dragged. #LewisandClarkTrail
More on the ripples: https://www.nps.gov/articles/ripples-on-the-ohio-river.htm