Formed by retreating glaciers 10,000 years ago, Prairie pothole wetlands are shallow, freshwater marshes scattered across the Great Plains. They provide vital waterfowl habitat. According to the EPA, about half of all prairie potholes have been drained or altered for agricultural use.

Weakening Generational Commitments That Protect Wetlands Is Bad for Farmers, Wildlife, and Future Generations

Prairie pothole wetlands are shallow, freshwater marshes scattered across the Great Plains of North America. Formed by retreating glaciers 10,000 years ago, this immense number of small, pocket-like water bodies fill with spring snowmelt and rain, creating a “duck factory” ecosystem.
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Poster for Thoreau Documentary

10 Insights Into Henry David Thoreau

With the new Ken Burns documentary on Henry David Thoreau premiering at the end of March, Clay will be sharing 10 essential insights into one of America’s most original thinkers.…
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Notes for Our Next Book Club Meeting

Our next Book Club meeting is Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 6:30 pm Central. Contact Liz to Register and she will send you a Zoom link the week of the meeting.…
near Fremont Peak

Where Steinbeck Said Goodbye to His California Home — Video Dispatch

Clay and Russ Eagle recently visited Fremont Peak, which overlooks California’s Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay. It was an especially important spot for John Steinbeck and deeply tied to his youth. Russ reads a passage from Travels with Charley, where the famous author writes about his last visit to there. 
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Notes for Our Next Book Club Meeting

Our next Book Club meeting is Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 6:30 pm Central. Contact Liz to Register and she will send you a Zoom link the week of the meeting.…
Earlier this week, Clay made a pilgrimage to the site called Dismal Nitch, where Lewis and Clark were marooned for six miserable days in November 1805. There is a somewhat confusing academic debate about which of the three or four identical nitches within a two-mile stretch of the Columbia River estuary is the actual, official, certified Dismal Nitch. This seems to have sent Clay into a bit of a spin.

Ode to Dismal Nitch

Has our friend Clay Jenkinson been too long alone on the Lewis and Clark Trail?
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Clay Reads and Riffs on Huckleberry Finn While Sitting Beside the Mighty Mississippi — Video Dispatch

Earlier this summer, Clay Jenkinson traveled to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers at Cairo, Illinois. Sitting on the banks of the Mississippi, Clay read from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and talked about the novel and its author, Mark Twain, who enshrined this mighty river deep in American mythology. 
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Clay Checks in From Missoula — Video Dispatch

Clay reports in on his adventures at the conclusion of his recent Montana Lewis and Clark Cultural Tour.
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A statute of Lewis and Clark and the expedition's

Lewis, Clark and Their Dog Seaman — Video Dispatch

Clay checks in from St. Charles, Missouri, near the mouth of the Missouri River, at Frontier Park, on one of the finest Lewis and Clark statue groups in America.
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Screenshot of Clay, Frank, Dennis

Celebrating July 4th On The Lewis and Clark Trail — Video Dispatch

Clay and his Listening to America “Corps of Discovery” celebrate the 4th of July along the Lewis and Clark Trail.
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