The Lewis and Clark Expedition, from May 1804 to September 1806, was the first government sponsored mission to explore the lands west of the Missouri River. Intended to traverse the vast area newly acquired from the French in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the Corp of Discovery crossed the fledgling United States from Pennsylvania to the Pacific Ocean. William Clark’s engraved signature in the soft sandstone of Pompeys Pillar is the only remaining physical evidence of the expedition’s 6,000mile odyssey. Named after the baby son of the Corp’s legendary Shoshone guide, Sacagawea, the 150-feet high formation stands tall above a wide arc of the Yellowstone River. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and a National Monument in 2001, Pompeys Pillar can be said to symbolize the start of the conquest of the West.
Pompeys Pillar National Monument encompasses 51 acres on the banks of the Yellowstone River with a massive sandstone outcrop covering about 2 acres at its base and rising 120 feet high toward Montana’s Big Sky. The Monument’s premier location at a natural ford in the Yellowstone River, and its geologic distinction as the only major sandstone formation in the area, have made Pompeys Pillar a celebrated landmark and outstanding observation point for more than 11,000 years of human occupation. The Pillar was used for centuries as a favoured campsite by Crows and other Native peoples as they travelled through the area on hunting, trading, war, or other expeditions. Ethnographic and archaeological evidence suggest that the Pillar was also a place of ritual and religious activity. Then throughout the 19th century, fur trappers, military expeditions, railroad workers, and early settlers used the sandstone as a registry of their passing. Today, in addition to Clark’s engraving, Pompeys Pillar is marked with over 5,000 of other etchings, petroglyphs, and pictographs.
While several Native tribal names translate the name of the river in mid-Montana as “Elk,” the French named it “Rochjhone” which translates to “Yellowstone.” William Clark and his exploratory party came to the Yellowstone in mid-July 1806, anxious to rendezvous with Captain Lewis and his small group.
On Friday, July 25, Clark wrote in his journal, “This rock which I shall Call Pompy’s Tower is 200 feet high and 400 paces in secumphrance… The nativs have ingraved on the face of this rock the figures of animals &c. near which I marked my name and the day of the month & year.”
The only remaining on-site physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Pompeys Pillar National Monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and is about 30 miles northeast of Billings, Montana.
The Interpretive Center presents the journey of William Clark and his detachment down the Yellowstone River in 1806. It also addresses native culture, flora and fauna, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the historical significance of Pompeys Pillar throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. A number of J.K. Ralston paintings and sketches are on display, and an adjacent gift shop provides artwork, books, jewellery, and toys.
It is useful to outline Sacagawea’s story here as, more than anyone, she ensured the safety of the Lewis & Clark Corp of Discovery. As such, she is one of the most significant individuals in the history of The United States.
Born around 1788, so much remains unknown about Sacagawea, the only woman on the Lewis and Clark expedition into the American West. She was the daughter of a Shoshone chief. Around the age of 12, Sacagawea was captured by an Hidatsa war party in Idaho and taken to North Dakota. She was then sold to a French-Canadian trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau who made her one of his wives.
Sacagawea and her husband lived among the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians in the upper Missouri River area (present-day North Dakota). In November 1804, an expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark entered the area. Often called the Corps of Discovery, the expedition planned to explore newly acquired western lands and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. The group built Fort Mandan, and elected to stay there for the winter. Lewis and Clark met Charbonneau and quickly hired him to serve as interpreter on their expedition. Even though she was pregnant with her first child, Sacagawea was chosen to accompany them on their mission. Lewis and Clark believed that her knowledge of the Shoshone language would help them later in their journey.
In February 1805, Sacagawea gave birth to a son named Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Despite traveling with a newborn child during the trek, Sacagawea proved to be helpful in many ways. She was skilled at finding edible plants. When a boat she was riding on capsized, she was able to save some of its cargo, including important documents and supplies. She also served as a symbol of peace a group traveling with a woman and a child were treated with less suspicion than a group of men alone.
Sacagawea also made a miraculous discovery of her own during the trip west. When the corps encountered a group of Shoshone Indians, she soon realized that its leader was actually her brother Cameahwait. It was through her that the expedition was able to buy horses from the Shoshone to cross the Rocky Mountains. Despite this joyous family reunion, Sacagawea remained with the explorers for the trip west.
After reaching the Pacific coast in November 1805, Sacagawea was allowed to cast her vote along with the other members of the expedition for where they would build a fort to stay for the winter. They built Fort Clatsop near present-day Astoria, Oregon, and they remained there until March of the following year. Sacagawea, her husband, and her son remained with the expedition on the return trip east until they reached the Mandan villages. During the journey, Clark had become fond of her son Jean Baptiste, nicknaming him “Pomp” or “Pompey.” And he even offered to help him get an education.
Once Sacagawea left the expedition, the details of her life become more elusive. In 1809, it is believed that she and her husband or just her husband according to some accounts traveled with their son to St. Louis to see Clark. Pomp was left in Clark`s care.