ign on as a member of the Corps of Discovery and experience a day soldiering and serving with Lewis & Clark in this new interactive Missouri Riverfront attraction. Admission is free. The center focuses on a day in the life of the explorers as they traveled through what is now the Sioux City area. The death and burial of Sergeant Charles Floyd on Aug. 20, 1804, is at the heart of the story. The expedition as a finely tuned military operation comes to life in exhibits that use dozens of interactive devices, including animatronic mannequins, the changing-river exhibit, map-making tools, computers, flip books, stamping stations, text-and-graphic panels, lift-and-drop panels, informational doors and drums, hand-painted murals, brass-rubbing stations, and replicas of military equipment and Indian artifacts. A videotape presentation, produced exclusively for the interpretive center, is shown every 15 minutes in the Keelboat Theatre. The center’s Spirit of Discovery Store offers a wide range of books and gift items for all ages. The grounds feature a 30-by-50-foot, 15-star-15-stripe U.S. Flag, a replica of the flag Lewis & Clark carried. It flies atop a 150-foot flag pole. The 14-foot-tall bronze “Spirit of Discovery” sculpture depicts Lewis, Clark and Lewis’s Newfoundland dog, Seaman.

The interpretive center was built with funds solely from Missouri River Historical Development, Inc., the non-profit organization that holds the license for riverboat gaming in Woodbury County.