INTERPRETING HISTORY by Gary Lucy
Throughout the past 30 years, my work as an artist has
evolved from wildlife to historic interpretation dealing
with the river heritage of our country. Where my binoculars
were once trained on birds and animals for inspiration,
they are now trained on navigational markers as I study
history and travel the inland waterways of our country
looking for my next subject.
I
have been focusing on the rivers of our country as the
arteries of life for the early development of a blooming
young nation. This was a time when a river was the only
consistently usable path through the wilderness. Thus,
prior to the Civil War, the rivers were our only highways.
In
recent years, my studies dealing with the rivers have
focused on a pivotal period in our history-the purchase of
the Louisiana Territory and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
On May 14, 1804 the first official government
representatives set foot in the West by rowing a 55-foot
keelboat and two pirogues into the mouth of the Missouri
River. This is a day that changed our country forever, and,
in my opinion, this marks the beginning of the United
States' ascension as a world power.
Of
all the extended research I have been doing concerning the
subject of Lewis and Clark, the research involving the flag
flown from the keelboat has been the most interesting. The
research and depiction of the keelboat, crewmembers,
uniforms, pirogues and landscapes have been tedious;
however, the flag image I have created was the most
laborious issue.
The
flag flown from the Lewis and Clark keelboat has been
visually interpreted by historians before. However, after
studying the drawings of the keelboat made by William
Clark, shown below, I began to question the interpretations
I had seen. Most of the previous interpretations exhibited
a pennant style flag with a circle of stars in the
canton-the field of blue.
I began to study the flag, because as an artist I was seeing an image in the canton different than a circle of stars. I felt that Clark was using a dotting technique that I often use in tight areas when I am trying to depict a complicated image in limited space. In the original drawing, the canton was less that an eighth-inch square. To have delineated any type of image with a quill pen in this area would have been extremely difficult. In the image of the flag below, which has been enlarged and cleaned to exhibit the dotting pattern, the first thought may be that Clark is depicting stars here.
After a great deal of research, I feel that Clark is depicting an image of an eagle in this location. My work in historic interpretation has led me down a few paths like this one where I have found my views differing with the accepted historical view. When one begins to "connect the dots" in Clark's drawings-squinting may help-the form of an eagle begins to emerge. Just seeing or imagining an eagle was not enough for me. I wanted to make my case with more concrete information. So I began to dig for supporting information.
After working with professionals in the field of Vexillology, the study of flags, and United States Army historians, I began to see a scenario where Lewis and Clark would have created an expedition flag specifically for their journey. This flag would embody the symbol of the United States Government and a sacred image of Native-Americans, the eagle. It was not uncommon for flags in this period to be cut apart or written upon for a specific purpose. Therefore, I feel that this expedition flag was produced by cutting the stripes from an Indian Presentation Flag-a very large flag carried by the expedition and given to the leaders of the tribes they met-at the edge of the canton and adding a white pennant to symbolize the mission of Lewis and Clark was one of peace. Many Indian Presentation Flags have been found dating from the late 1700s to the mid 1800s. The universal feature of these flags is the eagle. An example of such a flag is shown below.
This
flag is a rendering of an 1808 Indian Presentation Flag in
the collection of the Chicago Historical Society measuring
58-inches x 150-inches. As you can see in Clark's drawing
of the 55-foot keelboat below, the size of the specially
created flag is possible using the measurements of the
Indian Presentation Flag.
In
my first viewing of the Clark drawings, the dots had run
together in the copy. Thus, in this comparison drawing, the
eagle begins to take shape.
My
work with historic interpretation has been very rewarding.
It appears that I will continue to paint using history as a
subject in some capacity for the remainder of my career.
The rivers will also continue to serve as an inspiration
for me.