An ISU professor will set out to find the exact spot Meriwether Lewis stood when he wrote “While I viewed these mountains, I felt secret pleasure.”

Steve Russell, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, received a $25,000 grant from the Idaho State Historical Society to pinpoint the trail within 1 meter of the original path Lewis and William Clark traveled 200 years ago.

Russell and three other team members will work in northern Idaho and western Montana this summer, conducting a precision survey to find the land trail Lewis and Clark used. The group plans to map more than 100 miles this summer to create the first exact map of the trail – just in time for the nation’s 200th anniversary celebration of the expedition.

The team also includes Sam Wormley, associate scientist at the Ames Lab.

The information obtained will be used to help preserve and protect the trail, keeping it from future destruction or development, Russell said.

“Our purpose is to find the actual trail in the mountains,” he said. “The original trail is currently mapped out, but varies by about 100 or 200 feet.”

Russell’s expertise is in the non-water section of the trail used by Lewis and Clark.

Russell said he has worked with Wormley, an expert in Global Positioning System, for several years.

Russell’s plan is to use a mapping Global Positioning System device worth $12,000. The device is designed to work under a dense forest terrain.

“I have spent the past 10 years studying the precision GPS programs,” Wormley said. “I will be serving two positions this summer. The first will be as a technical assistant using the GPS system. I will also be the photographer.”

Along with the system, Russell said, the team plans to use maps from the National Archives, journal entries and past experiences to pinpoint the famous trail. Much of the trail still is visible because Lewis and Clark used paths that had been traveled by Native Americans.

The team will also consist of a camp maintainer and one other person. The two men have not been chosen.

Russell, a native of Montana, said he has always had an interest in Indian and pioneer trails. His passion for Lewis and Clark began in 1984 after he read an article about their journey, he said.

Russell spent the next several years researching the expedition and chasing the trail. His research has included several trips to the National Archives in Washington D.C. and other trips to Montana and Idaho.

“I began reading excerpts from [Lewis and Clark’s] journals, and then I started spending my summers in Idaho looking for the trail,” Russell said. “It was kind of like a fool’s chase for the first three or four years. I used scientific methods and a lot of research to find the trail.”

In the past, Russell said he has led mini-expeditions for students through Idaho State University and the Idaho Historical Society.

He has also co-authored a book, “Across the Snow Ranges,” showing pictures and telling tales of the journey.