By Kent McNeill

Sacagawea was a Shoshone Native American who volunteered, along with her husband, for the dangerous crossing of the unexplored Pacific Territory with Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. She traveled nearly 2,000 miles, and more than once she saved the expedition from starvation by bartering with friendly Native American tribes along the way.

Lewis and Clark traveled through Flora, Ill., on their way West, meeting up with Sacagawea near Bismarck, N. Dak. The Lewis and Clark saga remains in Flora, a sleepy little southern Illinois town. Near the end of September, Flora celebrates “Appleknockers Day” partially in observance of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Nearly every year, woodcarver Don Morris is invited to his hometown of Flora to teach a carving class. In 2001, he brought Sacagawea along to, in his words, "knock their socks off."

"I wanted to give some recognition to Sacagawea," says Don, a semi-retired businessman living in Rock Falls, Ill. Although he has been carving only since 1991, he has garnered 36 best-of-show, 15 judges’ choice, and 19 people’s choice awards.

"Besides, it had been a while since I tackled something this big," the one-quarter Cherokee says, nodding toward the five-foot tall basswood statue which took him nearly 300 hours using "every available tool" to complete.

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Pictures of Don's work to be added soon!...