Fun Fact #380 Education Of The Dragon

 Fun Fact #380

Education of The Dragon

After being selected to lead the Expedition, Meriwether Lewis would be sent to learn as much as he could from medicinal cures to navigation by the stars. Yet one of the most important would wind up being Tree Spotting.

Tree Spotting –or the art of identifying trees in the distance– is extremely useful as if you can identify what kind of trees are in an area it can inform you on what kind of land the tree is on, and the Flora and Fauna that can be found in an area. For instance a Pawpaw tree only grows in moist and shady areas so you know you’re near a source of water and usually a shaded shelter of some sort. This knowledge –which could be picked up on the move– helped guide the expedition safely through The Plains, The Badlands and The Rockies, only failing them when their sight was obscured within the redwoods of the West Coast. 

I’ve collected some information on tree identification which will be both on my blog and Facebook if you’re curious (Alternatively look up “learn your Land's" youtube video which goes over the same topic). 

Image below is of the Lewis Coat of Arms known as "The Argent Dragon" (Sourced from Wikimedia)