The Burke & Wills Historical Society Inc Biennial Conference

May 1 - 3, 2009
Royal Society of Victoria
Call for Papers

Theme: Towards the 150th Anniversary of The Burke & Wills Expedition 1860-61

The Burke & Wills Historical Society was officially formed in 2005 at its first Biennial conference. Its aims are to encourage interest in and historical research into the Burke & Wills expedition and other early explorers as well as the preservation of all things historical.

You are invited to submit an abstract of a suitable paper, and/or a description of a poster or display for our 2009 conference by no later than Monday 2nd February 2009. The topic need not be related specifically to the theme but should have some relevance to historical knowledge, research or preservation. The abstract should ideally be no longer than half a page.

Presentations will be 30 or 45 minutes in length, including time for questions. Information to be included with your submission: the likely length of the presentation, any hardware requirements, whether display space is required, of what type and how much (e.g. wall, table etc) name, title, address and contact details of the author.

We are also seeking expressions of interest from anyone interested in leading excursions or visits to places of interest in and around Melbourne.

Those invited to speak, set up a display or lead groups will be provided with further details as soon as possible after 2nd February 2009. Please indicate as soon as possible if you are interested in being involved in our Conference. All final submissions can be either or both, emailed to hilly308@bigpond.com or posted to The Burke & Wills Conference 2009, 8 Settlers Court, Paralowie, SA 5108.

print an informational document (pdf)

The Mapmaker’s Eye: David Thompson (1770-1857) on the Columbia Plateau, a traveling exhibit based on a book by historian Jack Nisbet, opens at the Clark County Historical Museum

Opens 5:00 pm, January 29, 2009

The exhibit commemorates the bicentennial of fur agent and cartographer David Thompson’s explorations in the Northwest between 1807 and 1812.

It will be at Clark County Historical Museum for a limited engagement through June 6.

Admission for the opening reception is free; light refreshments will be served.

Thompson, the counterpart of America’s Lewis and Clark, was an English-Canadian fur trader who worked for the Hudson Bay Company in Manitoba, Canada, before joining its competitor, the Northwest Company. Thompson was the first European to navigate the full length of the Columbia River.

The maps he made of the Columbia River basin east of the Cascade Mountains were of such high quality and detail that they were used well into the mid-20th century. He also was the first Euro-American to make the acquaintance of many Plateau tribes.

The exhibit originally was designed by the Museum of Arts & Culture in Spokane. It is made available via the Washington State Historical Society’s traveling exhibit service. It features excerpts from Thompson’s field journals and reproductions of his maps and sketches; historic paintings by Paul Kane, Henry J. Ware, and Gustavus Sohon and; photographs of period surveying instruments, fur trade items and tribal artifacts. It also includes related objects from the Clark County Historical Museum Collection.

CCHM is located in Vancouver’s 1909 Carnegie Library, 1511 Main St., Vancouver. Regular museum hours are: Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is charged. The museum also is open free from 5 to 9 p.m. the first Thursday of the month, between February and November, for First Thursday Museum After Hours. A wheelchair accessible entrance to the museum is located on the east side of the museum building on 16th street. Call CCHM, (360) 993-5679, or visit the Web site, at www.cchmusem.org, for more information.

The Burke & Wills Historical Society

Dave Phoenix has completed his walk across Australia. He walked on 114 days and covered 3,752 kilometres, reaching the Gulf just before the worst of the wet season rains began to fall.

Get more information by reading his blog at http://walk.burkeandwills.net.au/blog/