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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, February 12-14, 2020 A-7 The Park Record W Green Tips How we understand settlement of the West Nonprofit addresses community challenges AY WE WERE Tale of Lewis and Clark rethought over the years HANNA M. HOWARD Park City Museum Few historical figures have been as revered in the collective American imagination as Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. After purchasing the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, Thomas Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore this new acquisition for the purposes of learning about its flora, fauna, and geography, and how it might serve the United States. The duo and their crew, dubbed the Corps of Discovery, set out on their expedition in May 1804 and returned in September 1806. Although the Corps of Discovery never set foot in what became the state of Utah, as the land was still firmly under Spanish control during the years of the expedition, Lewis and Clark’s journey has still captured Parkites’ imaginations. In a brief interview with the Park Record in 1956, Marsac Elementary School fifth-grader Allan Leon Mair reported that his class was studying the history of the Western United States. He found it “very interesting to learn how we got our land, especially who got it for us and how,” citing Lewis and Clark as two of the critical figures in that endeavor. The lessons Mair and his Marsac classmates were taught about Lewis and Clark reflected broader trends in elementary education that centered stories of frontier heroism. By the same token, they ignored other more complicated, and decidedly less triumphant, aspects of the journey and its consequences. RECYCLE UTAH Park City Community Foundation plays a vital role in solving our community’s most challenging problems. They bring together local nonprofits, caring donors and community leaders to contribute financial resources and innovative ideas to benefit all the people of Park City. Fortunately, sustainability always makes their list of focuses. Recently, the Community Foundation launched the Park City Climate Fund, which nurtures high-impact climate change projects in our community. Staff at the Community Foundation believe in “walking their talk.” They enthusiastically joined the Green Business program with a primary goal to challenge staff to drive less and recycle more. Staff recorded their travel each week via bus, bike, foot or carpool. They also set up a schedule PARK CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM, POP JENKS COLLECTION A view of the Marsac School from Swede Alley. By 1956, Marsac would have been the only Park City school for students in sixth grade or younger. Part of the curriculum was U.S. history, including westward expansion. Some children appear to be exiting the school via its western staircase. For example, Mair did not mention that Lewis and Clark’s impact went beyond opening the West to expansion. It also facilitated first contact between many tribes and the United States Federal Government, with devastating consequences; according to Ben Sherman, Chairman of the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance and member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, “Not a single tribe escaped some kind of relocation or confinement or some kind of misery dealt at the hands of the federal government.” Omissions like this speak to what public educators in Utah, and likely the United States more broadly, considered important to children’s historical education in the 1950s. Twenty-first century interpretations of the Lewis and Clark expedition, however, pay significantly more attention to its impact on indigenous peoples, demonstrating a new view of what is considered important to understanding this particular chapter in United States history. In so doing, Native American voices take on new significance after a long, forced silence. Interpretations like these create a fuller, more nuanced picture of Lewis and Clark’s journey and its consequences. To learn more about our contemporary understandings of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, don’t miss Dorian DeMaio’s upcoming lecture at the Park City Museum’s Education and Collections Center, located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive, on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. Retired Park City resident and pilot, DeMaio, enjoys flying his airplane to historical places in the American West. For the past decade, he has traveled along the Lewis and Clark Trail and will bring the Corps of Discovery to life in pictures and words in this can’t-miss presentation. for their team of eleven to rotate trips to Recycle Utah and soon they will start composting. Energy efficiency is a priority with LED bulbs, programmable thermostats and sensible temperatures. Communications, newsletters and receipts are primarily electronic to avoid paper and when it is used, it’s from post-consumer recycled content. Catered foods are served on bamboo versus paper or plastic and in house cleaning materials are primarily vinegar. Plastics are avoided as much as possible – mugs and glasses are the replacement. Lastly, all events are as sustainable as possible using Recycle Utah’s 100 Mile Meal as a model. Park City Community Foundation’s collaborative giving and action helps create a caring community and extraordinary place to live, work and play. Recycle Utah is grateful to be their partner and appreciate their dedication to our environment. Moab campaign: ‘Do it like a local’ Effort is aimed at curbing impacts of tourism industry THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALT LAKE CITY — Moab tourism officials have launched a marketing campaign that aims to blunt the negative effects of the millions of visitors who visit the southeastern Utah town each year. Moab Area Travel Council officials say the “Do It Like a Local” campaign is meant to educate visitors on ways to practice sustainable tourism that is kinder to the environment and to the year-round residents, a ccording to The Deseret News. A recent survey of 405 people in the community revealed that locals largely responded negatively to the effects of tourism on the town, while dismissing or understating the benefit tourism dollars bring, said Elaine Gizler, executive director of the Moab Area Travel Council. “Over the last several years, the locals have been growing weary of all the tourism,” Gizler said. Moab has a population of 5,000 and draws about 3 million visitors a year to the area because of its proximity to Arches and Canyonlands national parks. The area known for its stunning red rocks is a mecca for hiking, rock crawling, mountain biking and river running. The marketing campaign will have themes such as “Pack It In, Pack It Out,” and “Don’t Bust the Crust,” telling people to stay on trails to protect the fragile soil crust that protects against erosion. People who book travel plans to Moab should expect to see display and video intercept ads and articles on the internet before they visit. After they arrive, they’ll continue to see internet advertising and “branded” items such as table tents, street banners and vinyl window decals in Moab restaurants, bars, hotel lobbies and other local businesses. “We are definitely trying to make a statement: We want you to come, we want you to visit here and spend time outdoors, but we also ask that you care for these public lands we have,” Gizler said. |