Learn about Lewis and Clark at Arrow Rock

• Location: Cascone’s Italian Restaurant, 3733 North Oak, Kansas City, Mo. (View on Google Maps)
Start Date: February 8, 2025

Rich Lawson—the most knowledgeable person about the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s time on the Missouri River near what is now the National Historic Landmark village of Arrow Rock, Mo.—will give a February 8 presentation at the annual combined meeting of the Southern Prairie Region and Missouri-Kansas Riverbend Chapter of the Lewis & Clark Trail Alliance.

Titled “What Lewis and Clark saw at THE Arrow Rock!,” the presentation will focus on new conclusions by Lawson of what the explorers saw and the importance of what William Clark reported about the Arrow Rock area in his journal.

The luncheon meeting will start at 11:30 a.m. (Central Time) at Cascone’s Italian Restaurant, 3733 North Oak, Kansas City, Mo. The business portion of the meeting will focus on members electing boards of directors for the region and chapter. The public is invited to attend to enjoy the luncheon, meet new friends, and listen to Lawson’s talk.

Reservations are required. A reservation includes lunch. Click here to learn how to make your reservation.

On June 9, 1804, as they slowly moved their boats up a treacherous part of the Missouri River, the Lewis and Clark explorers encountered a dangerous day’s work getting past a wooded limestone bluff called Arrow Rock. In 1807, passing by Arrow Rock again, William Clark noted in his journal that the riverside bluff was “a handsome spot for a town.”

Two decades later, the “handsome spot” became the first jumping-off point for settlers and entrepreneurs headed west, the beginning of the Santa Fe Trail.

Lawson has been enamored by local history ever since he was a youngster. He and his wife, Debbie, purchased property in the Arrow Rock area after he retired from five decades in the investment business. They intended to build their retirement home on a 10-acre site on the riverside bluff. However, after he researched the area and sat on local historical committees, he and Debbie concluded the bluff “was too historic for a retirement home and must be saved for history.”

They developed on their property the Arrow Rock Ferry Landing, where migrants crossed the Missouri River. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Lawsons recently constructed a cedar barn there to house wheelwright equipment and erected interpretive signage about several trails that crossed the site.

For more information or questions, please send an email to southernprairie@lewisandclark.org or go to the Southern Prairie and Riverbend’s joint website.