Feb. 18 Olson Seminar to Look at Medicine on Lewis & Clark Expedition

WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 18, 3:30-5 p.m.
WHERE: Great Plains Art Collection in the Christlieb Gallery, 1155 Q Street

Lincoln, Neb., Feb. 6, 2004 -- Over 28 months and 8,000 miles of arduous travel, Meriweather Lewis and William Clark lost only one member of the Voyage of Discovery, and that death could not have been prevented under the best medical care of the day.

How that was accomplished will be the topic of the next Paul A. Olson Seminar in Great Plains Studies, "Medical Care on the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery," Feb. 18 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Grand Island physician Dr. Richard Fruehling will describe how the party suffered the usual human ills and accidents, exacerbated by the difficult field conditions, but pulled through almost whole thanks primarily to the efforts of the physician-captains, Lewis and Clark.

The seminar will be from 3:30-5 p.m. at the Great Plains Art Collection in the Christlieb Gallery, 1155 Q St. The seminar and a 3 p.m. reception in the gallery are free and open to the public.

President Thomas Jefferson noted that Lewis was "careful as a father of those committed to his charge." Additionally, the leaders ministered to Native Americans but were always careful to do them no harm. Dr. Fruehling will review the state of medicine and medical treatments of the time and will discuss some of the expedition's medical incidents.

His presentation is made possible by the Nebraska Humanities Council and the Center for Great Plains Studies as part of the NHC Speakers Bureau.

CONTACT: Kim Weide, Great Plains Studies, (402) 472-3964