MONTANA IN TIME
© Greg Keeler 1989

Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Rag

The Louisiana Purchase opened up some doors
To finance those Napoleonic wars,
The deal of the century but what would we do with it now.
The Missippi drainage ain't exactly hay.
At least, that's what Thomas Jefferson said one day.
It's a whole lot of room to trap and chop and plow.
And there just might be a Northwest Passage somewhere up there,
But we've gotta beat the French and British to it
And corner that fur trade. Yeh, we gotta do it.
So he called me up one fortuitous night
and asked me if I'd try with all my might
To put my place in history in the bag.
I said, "You bet," then called on Clark,
And together we were ready to make our mark
With the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Rag.

Well, fifteen million bucks seemed fair
For an eight hundred thousand mile square
Tract of land that nearly doubled America's size.
So Tom gave us twenty five hundred bucks,
Pointed up the Missouri and said, "Good luck.
That's where this country's economic future lies."
Yes, politics and money followed us most all the way.
At the head of the Missouri, we found three rivers, and
We named 'em after Madison and Gallatin and Jefferson.
We boldly go where no one dares.
We fight off mosquitoes and grizzly bears.
We're really something, though we don't mean to brag.
We've made friends with all kinds of tribes
By offering vermilion and beads for bribes.
We're the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery.
We'll open up the West. Wouldn't it be loverly.
The Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Rag.