Following Lewis and Clark

Visiting sites where the Lewis and Clark Corps. of Discovery once trod

Leaving the depressing situation I found in Butte, Montana, I traveled on I-90 to Three Forks, where I picked up William Clark's trail of 1806 as he and 12 members of the Corps. of Discovery split from the main party that was returning via their outbound trail of the year before. Clark's goal was to explore the Yellowstone River to the point where it joined the Missouri River in North Dakota.


A short while later, I found myself in Livingston, where Clark's party intercepted the Yellowstone River. This town brought back memories of a day our family spent there in the late 1990s on our way to a 60th anniversary celebration for my wife's aunt and uncle in Colorado.

On that trip, our RV chose a moment at the top of a pass in Yellowstone park to have a mechanical failure. My son and I were able, literally with the help of a coat hanger and duct tape, to patch the vehicle, allowing us to limp back to Livingston, MT where we spent a day making more permanent repairs.

My comment to our mechanic, when he asked why I was so calm through the process, was, "When you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." We modified our schedule to make up for the lost day, and had a great time in Colorado.

Next stop - Pompey's Pillar

I passed Billings, MT and soon switched to I-94,which would take me to destinations in North Dakota, including a reconstruction of Ft. Mandan, where the Lewis and Clark group spent the winter of 1804-5.

Since I-94 follows the Yellowstone River, it was no surprise to find many signs and markers relating to Lewis and Clark. About thirty miles east of Billings I spotted one for a National Monument called Pompey's Pillar.

Sacagawea's son

You may recall that Lewis and Clark had three people with them that had not been with the party when it left St. Louis in 1804. While at Ft. Mandan for the winter of 1804-5, they hired Toussaint Charbonneau, a French trapper who spoke several Indian languages, as a guide for the continuation of their trip up the Missouri. Charbonneau was married to a young Shoshone girl, Sacagawea, who was pregnant. It was agreed that she would accompany them because of her knowledge of the Shoshone language. It was decided that this could be useful when they encountered those tribes later on their trip. After they resumed their trip in the spring, Sacagawea gave birth to a son, Jean-Baptiste, who became a favorite of William Clark. Clark nicknamed the child "Pompy", which means little chief in Shoshone.


Sacagawea proved invaluable to the Corps. Her language skills would help the party negotiate for horses with the Shoshone. She contributed in other ways as well, all while nursing and caring for her infant son. Truly an amazing woman.

Pompey's Pillar from the visitor center trail

Clark named the distinctive rock adjacent to the Yellowstone River that I was now visiting after Sacagawea's son. And, as has often happened with other place names, the spelling changed at some point from Pompy to Pompey.

 

Signature left by Clark on the pillar

William Clark carved his signature on this sandstone butte. It is the only known physical evidence that remains of the expedition.

Further reading about Pompey's Pillar here:

Next, I traveled to North Dakota, a first for me. I'll visit Theodore Roosevelt's ranch and then make another stop at a Lewis and Clark site.