Lewis and Clark Saltmakers Return

Saltmakers

NPS Photo

News Release Date: August 11, 2006

Contact: Sally Freeman, 503-861-4424

Lewis and Clark Saltmakers Return!

August 18-20, 2006

5:00 p.m. Friday to 5:00 p.m. Sunday

Seaside, Oregon

Experience history by meeting, talking and trading with the Lewis and Clark Saltmakers as they return to Seaside.  The Saltmakers Return takes place August 18-20.  Historical Interpreters will set up a camp right on the beach in south Seaside. They will make salt from seawater 24 hours a day from 5:00 p.m. Friday through 5:00 p.m. Sunday. The Saltmakers will be on the beach at the west end of Avenue U in Seaside, Oregon. From Highway 101 take Avenue U to the beach. From the Promenade in Seaside, walk south to where Avenue U meets the beach.

The Saltmakers Return is a fun interactive learning opportunity for the whole family. This weekend program is a 48-hour First-Person historical interpretation of the 1806 winter salt making operation of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The public is encouraged to visit with members of the expedition, at their camp on the beach, while these soldiers are tending fires and boiling seawater to make salt.

This popular program attracts nearly 6,000 visitors each year. “The Saltmakers Return is a true partnership program with its roots coming from the community” said Chip Jenkins, superintendent of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Fort Clatsop. In 2001 the Seaside Museum and Historical Society approached the park in hopes of establishing a partnership to make The Saltmakers Return happen. Other partners in this program now include the Pacific Northwest Living Historians, The Tides Motel, Fort Clatsop Historical Association, Destination: The Pacific, Clatsop County, and Oregon State Parks. This is an excellent chance for people to participate in one of the many programs of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.

The Saltmakers Return has received generous underwriting from the Kinsman Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, Autzen Foundation, the National Park Service Challenge Cost Share program, and the City of Seaside. Additional support is provided by the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Oregon, Oregon Historic Trails Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, and Oregon Public Broadcasting.

For more information, call Lewis and Clark NHP, Fort Clatsop at [phone], ext 214 or contact the Seaside Museum and Historical Society at [phone].