Join us for a day of learning about the many different ways things travel in and along Big Rivers. Our tentative schedule is below. Register now and check back for updated information.
Keynote Address: Hasan Davis, in his role of York, will lead a discussion following a showing of the short documentary Big Medicine: York Outdoors.
Big Medicine: York Outdoors explores the untold story of York, the only African American member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Enslaved by Captain William Clark, York did not choose to be part of this journey, yet his significant contributions as a hunter, guide, caretaker, and intermediary in interactions with Tribal Nations are chronicled in the journals of Expedition members as well as in accounts from the tribes they met along the way. The Arikara tribe referred to him as Big Medicine for his strength and the color of his skin.
This film follows eight educators and environmental stewards as they retrace York’s steps on a four-day river trip along the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. On their journey to revive York’s story, they explore themes of recreation access for people of color, and the joy and healing that the outdoors can provide.
Amended Draft Agenda (7-28-26)
River Soundings 2026 – Traveling Big Rivers
10:00 Doors open
10:15 Welcome – BH and Charlene
10:30 Dan Burkhardt – Traveling Along the Missouri
11:00 Robb Jacobson – Long Strange Trip: Missouri River Recovery
12:00 Bob Menees – Update on critical legal issues
12:30 Lunch served
1:30 Caran Hanks – Plastic Pollution and Gulf Hypoxia
2:00 Corps of Engineers TBD – Lock and Dams
2:30 Break
2:45 Galen Gritts – Indigenous Travels
3:30 Yolandea Wood – Long Distance Paddling
4:30 Happy hour / appetizers at The Drink House STL in Carter Commons
6:00 Big Medicine: York Outdoors at 24:1 Cinema
6:30 Hasan Davis