Concepts of Time
When Lewis and Clark left St. Louis to explore the Great Frontier:
- The population of the country was around 7 million people.
- The population center of the country was in Loudon County, Virginia, about 50 miles west of D.C.
- New York City had less than 100,000 people.
- “In 1804, when the Louisiana Purchase was officially transferred to the United States, [St. Louis] included a bakery, two taverns, three blacksmiths, two mills, and a doctor. Several grocers also operated from their homes, selling merchandise at outrageous prices due to high transportation costs.” Population: about 2,000.
- It took a week to travel from New York to Boston via stagecoach
- It took close to two months to cross the Atlantic from England to the U.S.
- It took L&C two years and four months to get from St. Louis to the Pacific Northwest coastline and back.
It’s only been 210 years since they set off. In the grand scheme of things, that’s pretty tiny. But look at everything that’s happened.
- The country: Nearing 320 million
- The population center is now actually west of Missouri, showing the great expansion of the country and the migration of her people.
- New York City: 7 million
- St. Louis: 300,000, and the city has existed so long it’s actually decaying (like all the other great industrial cities)
- About three hours from Boston to New York if you’re a stodgy driver.
- A couple more to fly to London
- You can drive across the entire country in just a few days, or fly over it in about six hours or so.
- But really, who cares? With Skype, you can talk to someone across country instantaneously. No reason to go anywhere.
It’s hard to fathom sometimes how quickly things have changed, and how much has happened in a measly 200 years.
Courtesy National Park Service
Go to St. Louis. See the Gateway Arch. It’s way cool.
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Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
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