Webblog

This lecture focuses on the theme of The Great American Desert, and the focus of the explorers of the region. The Spanish, French, Americans, and the Canadians were the main groups who explored the area to see what possibilities the region could have. The main explorer was Coronado, who explored in 1540-41. With his expedition, the Spanish lacked the motivation to settle here, as he believed that the area was not worth anything, and that it was a desert. France's goal in exploring the region was based commercially, especially to trade with the Indians. They started exploring the region around 1719. One of the main explorers was actually were French Canadians, the Verendryes. They set off for their exploration in 1727 and went as far as the Mandan villages. For the Americans, the leaders of the explorations were Lewis and Clark. After their travel, they concluded that the plains were a public fascination, but not a good place for development. The British Canadian explorers included Hind and Palliser, who traveled separately. They never met, but their paths crossed each other. They concluded that there is still a great desert, but it is mostly in the United States. What I found interesting in this lecture was when we talked about how in the plains region, there is a great fascination with antiques, and that it is mostly men who collect. I have always grown up thinking that it is just the women who collected antiques, but now that I think about it, my grandpa kept a lot of his old machinery and liked going to go sales to see what kind of goodies he could find. In a sense, I have come to acquire the thirst to collect antiques, especially when I can find out the story behind the item. Before this lecture, I really did not know a lot about the other countries who explored the area after the Louisiana Purchase. I think that it would be interesting to talk more about the antiques of the prairie, and especially what the explorers left behind, as these are pieces of history, and I know that I can really identify with something that I can actually see.