# Lewis and Clark: a question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814 "2003-06-10T08:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grousser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Grousser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grousser)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/1 "2003-06-10T08:15:02Z")
With no intentions of discussing the movie, I’m just throwing a question: I saw “The Sunshine Boys”, starring Woody Allen and Peter Falk as **Lewis and Clark** , a pair of comedians in his late life. And I remembered the movie “Event Horizon”, in which a spaceship called “Lewis & Clark” appears in it. Is this name referring to the characters of the other film? Are Lewis and Clark real, fictitious? Or what…? Just asking. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/2 "2003-06-10T08:22:08Z")
Are you aware that Merriwether Lewis and William Clark were 19th century American explorers? ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/3 "2003-06-10T11:13:47Z")
1st link that comes up on Googling “Lewis and Clark”: [Lewis and Clark](http://www.lewisandclark.org/) They were quite real. At the bottom of the linked page is another link that says “History of the Expedition” that gives a nice summary. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/4 "2003-06-10T12:04:26Z")
And here I thought this would be about Louis Lane and Clark Kent… ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/5 "2003-06-10T12:11:14Z")
What in God’s name are they teaching in school these days? ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/6 "2003-06-10T12:34:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*What in God’s name are they teaching in school these days? \*\* Why would they teach about 19th century American explorers in Mexican schools? How well do you know your 19th century Mexican explorers? And yes, I thoiught this was going to be about Lois Lane and Clark Kent as well [who is “Louis” Lane?] 😉 Barry ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/7 "2003-06-10T14:27:38Z")
I’m guessing that in Mexican schools they teach history, and that includes the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years War (French and Indian War to you and me), and resulted in the transfer of all the land west of the Mississippi from France to Spain (Mexico didn’t gain independence from Spain 'til 1821). Spain got Cuba back as a result of the Treaty as well. Spain (Mexico) owned all of the land contained in the Louisiana Purchase until about a decade before you know who explored it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/8 "2003-06-10T14:39:52Z")
The “Lewis and Clark” of _The Sunshine Boys_ were based on [Smith and Dale](http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/big_town/story/38271p-36099c.html), a very successful, long-running vaudeville team. I’ve seen some of their early talkie shorts, and they were _very_ funny. ---
**Author:** ![Grousser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Grousser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grousser)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/9 "2003-06-11T22:54:15Z")
Thanks, I got the right answer from Eve; then, the binomial “Lewis and Clark” from “Event Horizon” must be referring to the explorers. And I was not aware about Lewis and Clark as american explorers… Mexican schools don’t teach that stuff. We have “National history” and “Universal history”. The last one doesn’t peek at that level of detail. I suppose I just had to explore the internet, but it’s kinda funny to obtain human answers and their opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/10 "2003-06-11T23:30:26Z")
If you ever happen to be in St. Louis, Missouri, you will find out all you need to know about Lewis and Clark at the [Jefferson National Expansion Memorial](http://www.nps.gov/jeff/main.htm), located underneath the Gateway Arch. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/11 "2003-06-12T00:43:46Z")
Arch is kind of like the word Arc…which has a “k” sound in it…which means it’s funny! ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/12 "2003-06-12T01:49:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*I’m guessing that in Mexican schools they teach history, and that includes the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years War (French and Indian War to you and me), and resulted in the transfer of all the land west of the Mississippi from France to Spain (Mexico didn’t gain independence from Spain 'til 1821). Spain got Cuba back as a result of the Treaty as well. Spain (Mexico) owned all of the land contained in the Louisiana Purchase until about a decade before you know who explored it. \*\* Yes. But why would they teach about Lewis and Clark? All that stuff came **before** Lewis and Clark. And it’s not like much was going on up there for the Spanish or Mexicans. All the good stuff was going on down south. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/13 "2003-06-12T02:38:46Z")
> [@](#): > > And yes, I thoiught this was going to be about Lois Lane and Clark Kent as well [who is “Louis” Lane?] Ever wonder why Supes, though he claims to be attracted to Lois, Lana, etc. (any girl with the initials LL, it would seem) remains single? The answer lies in a childhood friendship that grew into something more, but was, alas, aborted when Louis developed gender dysphoria, and began presenting as a woman. Dropping the “U” from his name, he followed Clark to Metropolis, and even got a job at the same newspaper, in a scene eerily reminiscent of an anachronistic Chuck and Buck variant storyline. But for Supes, it could never be the same after the SRS. The truth has been suppressed by a narrow-minded DC Comics for too long, but now you know the rest of the story. Good day! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/14 "2003-06-12T06:20:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you aware that Merriwether Lewis and William Clark were 19th century American explorers? > [@](#): > > What in God’s name are they teaching in school these days? More to the point, why do schools in the U.S. now waste so much time talking about that boondoggle expedition that turned out to be a such a huge waste of money? Lewis got bogged down in being the appointed governor for Louisiana and never published his notes before he was murdered or committed suicide in 1808 and Clark, not a scholar, did not hand them off to be published until 1814, at which time a short narrative of their adventures was printed, lacking the actual information they had gathered of the country. While their information is now valuable to historians and naturalists seeking a view into the West prior to the white invasion, their journey did nothing for the people who actually followed them into the region. [Corps of Discovery failed in primary (and secondary) mission](http://www.voyageofrediscovery.com/part12/trail/story2.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-and-clark-a-question/180814/15 "2003-06-12T14:00:26Z")
tomndeb, I got a different impression from the article you cited; a couple of quotes follow: > [@](#): > > For those seeking to wrest wealth from the land, the expedition produced an immediate and tangible boon: Clark’s detailed map of the West, the most accurate in existence, a precise blueprint of financial opportunity for trappers and traders. This contradicts your comment that “their journey did nothing for the people who actually followed them into the region.” > [@](#): > > “It was the first report on the West, on the United States over the hill and beyond the sunset, on the province of the American future,” historian Bernard DeVoto wrote in the introduction to the version of the expedition’s journals he edited. “There has never been another so excellent or so influential. … It satisfied desire and it created desire: the desire of the westering nation.” It’s true that they did not find the long-hoped-for easy route to the Pacific, but at least they found out facts of geography about the area, including the fact that such a route most likely did not exist. I can certainly appreciate that the expedition would not be covered in a Mexican school; however, it should be part of any U.S. history course, and a U.S. high school graduate should at least know who these guys were.