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Birdwoman adventures
by Dan Gunderson, Minnesota Public Radio
September 1, 2003

Birdwoman Adventures uses a replica of a canoe used by the Lewis and Clark Corp of Discovery. (MPR Photo/Dan Gunderson)

The bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition will be celebrated over the next two years. The explorers traveled through the Dakotas on their way to the Pacific Northwest. The states along the route are hoping to cash in on tourists following the Lewis and Clark trail.

Washburn, N.D. — After jouncing across a cow pasture and parking next to a Porta-Potty, it's a short hike down a well-worn path to 1804.

On the bank of the Missouri River, tipis await tired travelers, a fire crackles under a cast iron pot of beans, and a 26 ft. long voyageur canoe promises another hard day of paddling.

This small encampment is the dream of three siblings who played here as children.

"This is a family farm we're on here," says Doug Yunker. "It's really not big enough. You can't make a living farming anymore unless you're huge."

	Doug Yunker

Yunker has been intrigued by Lewis and Clark most of his life. The Corp of Discovery, the formal name of the Lewis and Clark expedition, spent a winter nearby at Fort Mandan. That's where they met Sacagawea, the young Shoshone woman who accompanied the explorers as they traveled west. Yunker says Birdwoman Adventures was named in her honor.

Doug Yunker, his sisters Kathy and Becky, and their spouses all have jobs. This encampment along the Missouri is where they spend vacations, evenings and weekends. They offer day trips and overnight stays to those who want a taste of life with Lewis and Clark.

"You'll never get a sense of how hard it was. You know, I can't fathom it," says Doug Yunker. "But as far as a general way of living, sleeping in a tipi, throwing a tomahawk, cooking over an open fire, they get a good flavor for that."

Doug loves teaching people how to stick a tomahawk in a stump from four paces. He also enjoys guiding the big canoe down the Missouri, and sitting around a campfire after a hard day, listening to fiddle music.

Life with Lewis and Clark was difficult. One of the simple pleasures was music. The Salveson sisters sometimes provide music to adventure groups. Mary is 14, Emily is 16.

	Fiddlers

"I could be flipping burgers at McDonalds instead of doing this job, being outside all summer. I've met more people in the last three years than I probably would have in a lifetime if I hadn't done this," says Emily. "I've met reporters from Norway and Sweden and all over in Europe. I've met people from over in California who've never seen a cow before in their life. You get to meet a lot of interesting people."

Birdwoman Adventures started in 1998. Doug says they've worked out most of the kinks and have a steady business. But they're not getting rich.

"We're doing it for the money, but I think we're getting more enjoyment out of it than money. Not that we're not doing well -- the kids are all paid. but the partners haven't seen any money out of it yet," says Yunker.

Still, Doug Yunker and his sister Kathy Kaiser hope their business outlives the Lewis and Clark bicentennial.

"I don't think it will end in 2006. I'm thinking it will dwindle, but whatever it is we'll be happy with what it is," says Kaiser.

"It just all came together when we started this, and it was almost too good an opportunity to not at least try it," adds Yunker.

Thousands of people are expected to make the trek through the Dakotas in the next two years, retracing one of the great adventures in American history.

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