Journeying Forward: Connecting Cultures is a look at Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery Journey from 1803-1806.
​
Originally constructed for the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial by the American Rivers organization, this exhibit traveled the country between 2004-2006. Following the bicentennial, the exhibit was gifted to the Yankton County Historical Society.
​
Over the past couple of years, the Exhibit Design team has worked with a company out of Kansas to rehabilitate and update the aging exhibit.
​
What you see at the Mead Cultural Education Center is one of the most extensive looks at the journey from beginning to end, including their impact on the Native Americans they encountered. While most stops along the trail focus on their part of the journey, the Exhibit Design team wanted to make this a major destination for followers of the Lewis & Clark Trail.
The Future
The first floor permanent gallery called Journeying Forward is designed to provide visitors with the history of the Dakota Territory, its people, and their cultures from prehistory to 2011. This exhibit is a multi-year project with a total of 7 phases. Each phase will cover a period of time and will be installed separately.
Phase I: Connecting Cultures (Completed 2018)
This covers pre-history to the return of Lewis & Clark's Expedition in 1806
Phase II: Coexisting (Opening 2020)
Covers 1807 Fur Trade History to 1856 Pre-Settlement
Phase III: Cultural Collision of Settlement Years (Opening 2021)
1857 Settlement ti 1889 Statehood
Phase IV: Tribal History & Culture (Opening 2022)
Understanding tribal teachings and the eastern impact in their lifestyles
Phase V: Comparing Cultures (Opening 2023)
Living quarters of Yankton residents ti Reservation life
Phase VI: Modernizing the Midwest (Opening 2024)
New age of recreation, relaxation, and pre-war era
Phase VII: Common Good (Opening 2025)
War and post-war years