Lewis and Clark in Mississippi? DESC joins in celebrating Lafayette

On a recent spring morning, the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, MO (DESC), the reenactment arm of the Lewis & Clark Boathouse and Museum, finds themselves in Natchez, Mississippi. This may seem odd, since we know that Lewis & Clark explored the passage to the west coast via the Missouri River back in the early 1800’s. However, this group of passionate reenactors finds themselves all over the U.S. at any given time.

This time, DESC members were participating in a tribute to General Marquis de Lafayette on his final tour of the U.S. While the celebration centered on Lafayette, a host of other noted U.S. early historical folks, such as George Washington, were also in attendance as reenactors at the festival. The event was hosted by the Mississippi Sons of the American Revolution (MS SAR) and the Natchez Literary & Cinema Celebration (NCLL).

As this event in Natchez reveals, the dedicated contingent of Lewis and Clark reenactors makes history come alive. Thirty reenactors/volunteers demonstrated a variety of early American frontier skills to 720 students from Natchez, the local community and to attendees at the Mississippi state SAR convention/NLCC convention.

There was a daily flag raising and lowering, accompanied by the group’s traditional singing of “Chester,” a patriotic anthem that was originally sung during the Revolutionary War.

The re-enactors dined on camp-style food, fired guns and showed off artifacts of the era. A ball was held for General Lafayette, with period music by our fellow St. Charles history groups: the Boonslick Strings and the Lewis and Clark Fife and Drum Corps, both also based in St. Charles, Missouri. A member of DESC directed couples in the grand march, waltzes, and other dances that were popular at the time. It is similar to square dancing.

“We couldn’t have celebrated Lafayette without DESC being here,” said Bryant Boswell, organizer of the Follow the Frenchman through Natchez: The Return Tour of Lafayette event and a longtime DESC volunteer. “The Discovery Expedition was presenting at six stations for the public and when the formed up in formation they were crisp. I was very proud of every one of them and it showed what is possible for our organization.”