Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery passed near Rex Ziak’s hometown, and he had some interest in their story since childhood. But it wasn’t until he re-read the explorers’ journals later in his life that he discovered that an entire month of their sojourn along the lower Columbia River had been overlooked by scholars. Using his lifelong knowledge of the region’s topography, weather, and tides, Rex painstakingly researched the day-by-day progress of the expedition from November 7th to December 7th, 1805, and confirmed his suspicions that not only had one of the most exciting and eventful chapters of the Lewis and Clark story failed to be told but that previous historians had also incorrectly identified the true “western end” of their journey.
      In 1997, Rex published his first essay on his new findings, which caught the attention of the general public as well as the academic community. Rex’s careful scholarship combined with his compelling writing and lectures brought this pivotal month in the expedition’s journey vividly to life: the miserable days and nights trapped without adequate shelter in pouring rain, the vain attempts to navigate the treacherous Columbia, the hunger and illness suffered by the entire party, and their eventual triumphant arrival at “Station Camp,” the location which Rex identified on Clark’s maps as the completion point of their westward journey.
      In the following years, Rex presented this history to politicians, historians, park rangers, students, teachers, and military personnel. The critics and skeptics were gradually won over by the strength of Rex’s findings. In 1998, Rex argued for the importance of moving U.S. Highway 101 so that Station Camp could be preserved and commemorated; by 1999, two million dollars had been budgeted for the project, and the federal government had expressed interest in preserving all the Lewis and Clark campsites Rex had identified.

      In 2002, Rex released his first book, In Full View: A True and Accurate Account of Lewis and Clark's Arrival at the Pacific Ocean, and Their Search for a Winter Camp Along the Lower Columbia River. [see details on the Author/Publisher page] This book remains to this day the only accurately detailed description of the expedition’s historic arrival at the Pacific Ocean.
      Rex was one of only two dozen scholars invited by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation to speak at the opening ceremonies of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in 2003. His testimony before a U.S. Senate committee in 2004 was instrumental in the creation of the nation’s newest national park, the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, which will preserve for all time the most significant campsites along the lower Columbia in both Washington and Oregon.
      Rex published his second book, Lewis and Clark: Down and Up the Columbia River, in 2006. [see details on the Author/Publisher page] This unique, easily portable fold-out map, beautifully drawn and filled with pithy quotes from the explorers’ journals, allows the reader to follow the progress of the Corps of Discovery both toward the ocean and back.
      Also in 2006, Rex received the prestigious National Award for Historic Preservation from the Daughters of the American Revolution, and NBC’s “Today Show” filmed and aired a special segment highlighting Rex’s accomplishments. [see NBC Today Show profile on Contact Page]
      Rex’s historical lectures aren’t limited to Lewis and Clark. He has also frequently spoken on Thomas Jefferson, the Astor party, Vitus Bering, the Battle of Trafalgar, Capt. James Cook, John Ledyard, and the history of Western European maritime exploration. He is also fond of Roman history.