Did you know that: "Lewis chose Pittsburgh as the expedition's point of departure, not just for its fortuitous confluence of rivers, but because only in Pittsburgh and its environs could he find skilled workmen to build the keelboat he needed for a transcontinental voyage." City undaunted by historical snub They tried. They failed. And now, after being rebuffed by a St. Louis-based national commission, the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center http://www.pghhistory.org/ has called on some big names -- from the state House to Dan Rooney to former Gov. Tom Ridge to President Bush -- to help it stake Pittsburgh's claim as the place where the Lewis and Clark expedition began. Read more at: http://www.postgazette.com/nation/20021010lewisclarkp2.asp The Thursday, October 10, 2002 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a wonderful illustration of a keel boat on it's front page along with the headline link above. It's a shame the Lewis & Clark 2003 - http://www.lewisandclark200.org/ is overlooking the importance of Pittsburgh in this bicentennial celebration.