Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

In November, 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and their growing contingent of "Corps of Discovery" men, spent five days here teaching each other celestial navigation and surveying skills. Using a sextant, octant, artificial horizon, and reference tables, they successfully obtained the first longitude and latitude data that they would use during the Expedition. Subsequent maps of the northern and western portions of the United States, prepared using Lewis and Clark's data, began at the confluence of these great rivers which, In 1803, was located just south of 2nd Street in present-day Cairo.

This sculpture, Proceeding On, was designed and fabricated by EVERTT BEIDLER, Art and Design Graduate School, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Installed August, 2005, to commemorate Lewis and Clark's activities at this place.

A Library of Congress grant helped make this sculpture and commemoration possible, with cooperation from Senator Richard Durbin, the city of Cairo, and a design advisory committee of residents Berlene Jones, Louise Ogg, and Sandra Tarver, and SIU-C staff Dona Bachman, JoAnna Johnson, David Koch, and Robert Swenson.

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