Next In Their Footsteps event scheduled for January 21

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Fort Clatsop has announced the next In Their Footsteps free speaker series event. “Altho’ no regular botanist” - Jefferson by Carol Lucas will be held Sunday, January 21, at 1:00 p.m.

It would have been customary for Jefferson to have sent a botanist on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. One of the many purposes of the trip was to assess what resources, including plants, were in the lands to the west. Jefferson knew Meriwether Lewis and that, “Altho' no regular botanist,” Lewis had the ability to catalog plant discoveries, due mostly to his herbal knowledge. In his childhood, Lewis’ mother was the local healer/herbalist, and a well-respected one. So, in addition to identification, he had valuable healing knowledge of plants that an orthodox physician of his day might not possess. There was no doctor on the trip.

Carol Lucas is an herbalist in Gearhart and considers herself a “plant person.” She became serious about medicinal herbs after having a major turnaround in a serious health crisis, for which conventional medicine had no answers. A search for good schooling led her to Nature's Sunshine Products and their extensive educational system. Since 1989, Carol has been a Nature's Sunshine Manager, mentoring those who just want more health and vitality, and those who want to become professional herbalists. She is a member of the Gearhart CERT team (Community Emergency Response Team), where she teaches people how to use what grows around them at times when a doctor can’t be reached, or may be out of medicines. She continues regular herbal study, and hopes to bring a nation-wide workshop on herbal use in emergencies to Clatsop County.

In Their Footsteps is a monthly Sunday forum sponsored by the Lewis & Clark National Park Association and the park. These programs are held in the Netul River Room of Fort Clatsop’s visitor center and are free of charge.

For more information, call the park at (503) 861-2471, or check out http://www.nps.gov/lewi, or Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on Facebook.