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Lecture was called The Great American Desert. The first documented exploration of the Plains was by the Spanish, and was done so by the famous Coronado expedition. Coronado failed to find anything significant to justify settling the land, so no major attempts were made to colonize or even tame the plains. Coronado was followed by many other Spanish explorers into the region, but they too failed to find riches enough to settle the land. From the north the French explored the plains, and they were less picky in what they were looking for. They wanted to trade with the Indians, so the set up trading posts and has a semi-permanent association with the plains. The La Verendryes made one of the most famous expeditions through what is now North and South Dakota. For the Americans, who were late in the game of exploring, came Lewis and Clark to explore to the Pacific, and Zebulon Pike. All of these men were looking to see what the land could provide for their respective countries. In the case of Canada, explorers Hind and Palliser were not looking for gold or furs, but a decent place for farmers to settle. Thus they discovered Palliser's Triangle, an arid area not suitable for farming, and the plains around it which had agricultural potential.
The part of this lecture where we discussed the artifacts of the Coronado expedition in Kansas really interested me. These explorers are cultural beings, but what does that really mean? Do we have some psychological need to know that white explorers have been here before? Is it the adventurous spirit that has been tacked onto these groups that makes us revere them? We touched base a little on this in class, but I am still uncertain why we treat explorers like we do. Perhaps it's the sense of adventure, which draws us to them.