La Salle: Expedition II
This photo is from November 15th, 1976, the day that the La Salle: Expedition II landed in Manitowoc. The voyagers were met with a welcoming crowd. This photo was included on the front page of the Herald Times Reporter on that day.
In August of 1976, six educators, fifteen high school students, a playwright, and a priest embarked on an eight-month voyage down memory lane. Their goal was to recreate the voyage that Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle undertook in 1681 and 1682 and dramatize how important it is to understand the past while building the future.
In the years of 1681 and 1682, a man by the name of Robert Cavelier de La Salle stumbled across New Orleans. Him and his team of voyagers then began exploring this new world by following the flow of the water all the way to Montreal, Canada. This voyage marked the beginning of the development of the American heartland.
The 1976 voyage, titled La Salle: Expedition II, was a close recreation of the original expedition in all aspects. The crew traveled along the waterways in simulated birchbark canoes, just as La Salle did in the 17th century. In addition, they wore period clothing. The voyage started on August 11th, 1976, where they departed from Montreal. After the 3000-mile route, the crew arrived in New Orleans on April 9th, 1977.
Throughout the nearly eight-month voyage, the progress of the voyagers was observed by thousands of onlookers. The voyagers would make stops at cities that were on their way. Manitowoc was one of these cities, as the itinerary was to make their way down Lake Michigan on the West side.
On November 14th, 1976, the voyagers landed in Manitowoc at the YMCA in the late afternoon. They were greeted by a celebration that included Lincoln High School’s Abe’s Gang, and a welcoming address from the mayor at the time, Anthony Dufek. After the welcoming ceremony voyagers spoke to crowds about the importance of the past, and what their voyage was about. The next day, the voyagers talked to schools about their experiences thus far on their expedition.
On the La Salle: Expedition II voyage, the students on the trip performed many Expedition projects. These projects aimed to resemble what the voyage was like originally. So, for example one of the projects was mapping the route of the voyage using 17th century instruments. Another project was studying voyager diets. Each of these projects gave students a better understanding of what the voyage was like for La Salle and his crew back in the 1600s. This recreating of the original voyage was a hands-on and immersive experience in history.
So, while visiting cities on the route of the voyage, the voyagers also shared some of their findings with the public. For the public, this was a learning experience too. They got to hear from individuals who lived as if they were in the 1600s, which without this project never would have happened. It is one thing to read about voyagers lives in the 1600s, but it is a much more enriching teaching tool to hear about these sorts of experiences first-hand.
La Salle: Expedition II, brought the past to life. It provided many with the opportunity to learn about the past from people who were recreating life from the 1600s. Maybe one day another recreation of a historical voyage will take place, giving us today a first-hand opportunity to come face-to-face with history brought to life.