A flotilla of paddlers will arrive in South Sioux City next Friday August 5th after a week-long trip from Fort Randal in South Dakota.The canoers and kayakers will be retracing the steps of Lewis and Clark on their expedition more than 200 years ago.
Montana based historian, writer, photographer and long-time paddler Norm Miller is also along for the ride, not his first on Missouri. Miller founded the Missouri River Padders several years ago. Despite his experience planning paddling events, Miller admits the sheer number of participants, over 100, can be a bit daunting at times.
“It is, I’ve never planned an event with so many people. You know when I started I didn’t know how many were going to show up. So, it was like, wow, this is like planning a wedding or a family reunion, so it’s a lot involved.”
Miller says that most paddlers have a checklist of must-haves for what can be arduous journey.
“I think anybody that camps or does paddling trips like this definitely has a checklist that they go through and it’s good to keep tabs on everybody and make sure they go through the must needed stuff, you know plenty of water, plenty of food. Be self-sufficient, have your tent, and if you don’t get to camp that night you have your tent and you can camp anywhere”
Miller says this year’s trip has a special significance for one family. It is dedicated to a 25 year old Sioux Center man who died while attempting to canoe from Montana down the Missouri River back in 1988. His name was Bill Baumgartner. Miller says he talked to some of Bill’s high school buddies.
“I was able to track down some friends of his, especially one of his high school buddies, and they sort of filled me in on who Bill was and his story. And one of the messages Bill wrote, I believe it was in a journal that he carried with him was that It’s not about getting to St. Louis in a canoe, it’s what you learn on your venture and what you take with you for the rest of your life.”
Miller says Baumgartner’s words mirrored some of his feelings after his 2004 trip down the Missouri.
“Once the trip was over it seemed like you didn’t just switch off a switch. Everything you learned, and the people you met, how you learned about your self you carried forward to this day. SO Bill’s story really resonated with me. He never made it home, he never paddled this streatch of the river home, so in a way this is dedicated to all those who really love the river and sort of bring his message back to Sioux City.”
Miller and more than one hundred kayakers and canoer will paddle into the boat ramp in South Sioux City next Friday, August 5th, and hope to hold a celebration of their journey.
That’s Siouxland Public Media News, I’m Mary Hartnett.
