York

York (1770–1775 – after 1815) was an enslaved man who was the only African-American member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806. A lifelong slave and personal servant of William Clark, York participated in the entire exploration and made significant contributions to its success.

York was born into slavery in the Colony of Virginia, the son of Old York and Rose, both of whom were enslaved by John Clark III, William Clark's father. William inherited York from his father in 1799. He was Clark's "body servant". York was a large man; his weight has been estimated as . His skin was dark: he was "black as a bear", said one who knew him, and his hair was short and curly. Like most enslaved persons of the time, York was illiterate, and information about him is scant.

York expected to be given his freedom after the expedition was successfully completed, in view of what he called his "immense services",

Documentation concerning York is lacking for the years immediately following the expedition. About 20 years later, Clark told Washington Irving that he had freed York and set him up in business, giving him six horses and a large wagon to start a drayage business moving goods between Nashville and Richmond. I give and bequeath to my son Edmund... three slaves, to wit Peter (Vegas child), and Scipio and Darathy (Rose's children)...

I give and bequeath to my son William... one black man named York, also old York and his wife Rose, and their two children, Nancy and Juba; also three old negroes, Tame, Cupid and Harry. The most plausible family tree based on this description and others is that York was the son of Old York, not by Rose; that Scipio (also spelled Sippo, Seppo, Sep, and Pipo, likely named the same as the Roman general Scipio Africanus) and Daphny (also spelled Dafney, Daphney, and Daphne) were Rose's children not by Old York; and that Nancy and Juba were Old York and Rose's biological children. For all intents and purposes, York's role in Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery was equal to that of the expedition's white men.

The following excerpts are from the expedition's official report:

[October 15, 1804] he fair sex received our men with more than hospitality. York was here again an object of astonishment; the children would follow him constantly, and if he chanced to turn towards them, run with great terror. In a reply, Dayton Duncan notes that Clark wrote down the views on the question of every member of the expedition, including York and Sacagawea. This was itself very unusual. The men believed that they, not the leaders, had made the decision. According to Duncan, it was a vote. Glen Kirkpatrick disagrees.

Mentions in Clark's journal The name York is mentioned in the Lewis and Clark journals 135 times. York asked Clark for his freedom based upon his good services during the expedition.

William Clark's letters to his brother In 1988, 47 letters written by Clark to his brother Jonathan were discovered; written between 1792 and 1811, they were published as a volume in 2002. Information concerning York was one of the main surprises in the letters, according to their editor James J. Holmberg. Manumission of a slave was a formal process that required documentation. No known documents exist confirming that Clark ever freed York. According to Darrell Millner, there is nothing to corroborate any of these claims, and York's alleged desire to return to slavery "lacks historical foundation". Modern scholars consider it highly reliable.

Passage 2 (1834) On the return, Leonard met the same man again, in 1834:

It will be recollected that I was amongst these Indians once before, when some of our horses were stolen and we followed them into the Crow village, – where we found our horses and also a negro man, in the winter of 1832–33. This man we found to be of as great advantage to us now as on former occasions, as he has become thoroughly acquainted with their language, method of transacting their public and private business, and considered of great value by the Indians. He enjoys perfect peace and satisfaction, and has every thing he desires at his own command.

In addition, Beckwourth was not negroid in appearance. His father was white, and the ethnicity of his mother is not known, but she may well have been no more than half or one-quarter Black (a quadroon). He never described himself as Black, and he "resembled an Indian so much as to pass for one." Three people who saw him mistook him for a white man. "On the basis of both age and appearance, Beckwourth having been Leonard's 'old negro' simply does not stand up." A John Brazeau was an employee of the American Fur Company and founded Braseau's Houses, a trading post on the Yellowstone River. Frank Grouard, an interpreter, was said to have been "the son of an American Fur Company employee named John Brazeau."

York The man described by Leonard, who is never named and presumably did not want his name known, fits York's description in size, complexion, and age. Besides the statement that he was big, the only thing known about York's appearance is that his skin was very dark. He was a Black man, which neither Rose nor Beckwourth was. The man's success and comfort living with the Crows also supports York's identification. After his wife was taken to Natchez, York no longer had a reason to remain in Louisville, and he was quite upset at Clark's refusal to grant him his freedom, given his "immense services" during the expedition. It may be supposed that York ran away from his owner and was able to travel from St. Louis up the Missouri to Montana, some .

Legacy There is no doubt from the journals written during the expedition that York played a vital role in its success. Not only did he fulfill his duties as a laborer through the course of the expedition, the journals also suggest that the color of York's skin intrigued the Native tribes so much they seemingly gave the expedition a pass through the land as well as became willing to trade.

Creative works based on York In 1972, one of the six sections of Peter Michaelson's poem/essay "Bestride the Mighty and Heretofore Deemed Endless Missouri: An Essay on the Corps of Discovery", deals with York. As part of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebrations of 2003, an opera titled York, composed by Bruce Trinkley with the libretto by Jason Charnesky, was presented at the Penn State Opera Theater. A one-man play, York, created by playwright Bryan Harnetiaux in collaboration with actor and African drummer David Casteal, directed by Susan Hardie, and performed by Casteal, premiered at the Spokane Civic Theatre in Spokane, Washington, on April 29, 2005. According to Harnetiaux, "One element you see is the affinity between York's African drumming experience and the Native American drumming". There were off-Broadway performances in New York City in July 2006, and a short production run in 2008. In commemoration of Black History Month, the play was again presented in Spokane on February 27–28, 2016, again with David Casteal starring. It was revived again on February 2, 2018. Kentucky poet Frank X Walker has written two books of poetry about York: Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York (2004) and When Winter Come: The Ascension of York (2008). According to the publisher, the University of Kentucky Press, "This collection of persona poems tells the story of the infamous Lewis & Clark expedition from the point of view of Clark's personal slave, York. The poems form a narrative of York's inner and outer journey, before, during and after the expedition—a journey from slavery to freedom, from the plantation to the great northwest, from servant to soul yearning to be free." The books were very well received: "Singly and together, these books are a great success: they portray the complex character of York, [and] they enrich our understanding of an important chapter in American history", wrote William Joliff in a review article.

In his 1964 Western novel Little Big Man, Thomas Berger mentions York as having possibly been the father of some dark-skinned Indians.

Honors (in chronological order) Lewis and Clark meeting the Mandan Indians, by Charles Marion Russell, 1897. Left to right, Lewis, Clark, and York. Sacajawea and her child are seen from the back, in the foreground. York is in the canoe on the right, which is quite different from the Indian canoe on the left. Louis and Clark on the Lower Columbia, by Charles Marion Russell, 1905.

Mural by Richard Haas, west face of the former Sovereign Hotel (Portland, Oregon). York is at bottom right. Bust of York, placed on the base of the toppled statue of Harvey W. Scott, in Portland, Oregon York appears in several paintings by Western artist Charles Marion Russell. In the painting commonly known as Lewis and Clark meeting the Mandan Indians (1897), York is well and distinctively dressed. In York (1908), no European Americans are present. York meets with Native Americans, who are curious about him, examining his dark skin. "Bilalian Odyssey" by Isaka Shamsud-din (1983) "transfers York from the periphery to the center of the dramatic story of which he is a part." In 2020, the statue of York was removed from the sculpture. In July 1989, a group of statues by sculptor Bob Scriver, "Explorers at the Portage", was erected in Overlook Park in Great Falls, Montana. It depicts Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, York, and the expedition's dog, Seaman, surveying the junction of the Missouri and Sun rivers. Scriver donated a copy of the work, now with Sacagawea added (photo above), to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center, located near the city on the Crooked Falls of the Great Falls of the Missouri River. In 1989, the Oregon Historical Society commissioned Richard Haas to create eight-story-high murals for the former Sovereign Hotel, which at the time it owned. One mural depicts the people of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, including York and Sacagawea. York's Stripes, by Porter Williams, 1998, shows the stripes of York's whipping on his back. which were named for York by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The privately owned islands were called by Clark "York's 8 Islands", but have since become known as "York's Islands" or simply "Yorks Islands". A small tributary of the Yellowstone River was also named for York. Western artist Michael Haynes in 2000 produced "Proud Hunter", an illustration of York alone, carrying a small deer. link In 2000, a statue by Eugene Daub was erected at Clark's Point in Case Park in Kansas City, Missouri, depicting Lewis, Clark, York, Sacagawea, and Seaman. link In 2000, York was mentioned on a historical marker at the former location of Mulberry Hill, Clark's family home in Louisville. link In 2001, President Bill Clinton posthumously granted York the rank of honorary sergeant in the United States Army. In 2001, York was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2002, the City Council of Portland voted to affirm that "York Street", the origins of which name were hitherto unknown, is to be understood as referring to this York. In 2003, a statue of York by sculptor Ed Hamilton, with plaques commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition and his participation in it, was placed on Louisville's Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere, next to the wharf on the Ohio River. Also in Louisville in 2003, the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Department of Highways erected a historical marker along the Ohio River. link York has a prominent place in a 2005 mural of the expedition by David McClain in Liberty, Missouri. link 2008: Lewis and Clark Trailhead Monument by Sabra Tull Meyer, in Jefferson City, Missouri. Group depicts, left to right, York, Lewis, Seaman, Clark, and interpreter George Drouillard. Funding problems had delayed it since 2002. link 2010: York: Terra Incognita, a bronze statue by Alison Saar, was installed on the campus of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Since we do not know what York looked like, the artist focused instead on the statue's back, making it a focal point. The back is "scarred" with sections of William Clark's maps. The project was begun by four law students. In 2021, a bust of York was secretly installed atop a pedestal which formerly contained a statue of anti-Native American pioneer Harvey W. Scott, in Portland, Oregon's Mount Tabor Park. Attached to the pedestal was a paper plaque describing York's role in the Lewis and Clark expedition. The artist at first was unknown, but subsequently revealed that he was Todd McGrain. The bust was toppled and seriously damaged in July 2021. A white supremacist group, Patriot Front, is suspected.

Writings about York There are no writings by York himself, as he was illiterate. The bitterness between him and Clark prevented him from telling his story for publication as a slave narrative. General

Screenplay

Children's books

Film 2005: York, the slave of William Clark. 16:34. Produced for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial by Executive Productions, Seattle. 2009: Searching for York. 29:01. Oregon Public Broadcasting.

2017: York: One Man's Story. 6:56. Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. 2018: York: American's Forgotten Explorer. 18:48. Stefan Milo. 2020: A Conversation with Hasan Davis: York, Equity, Race and the Lewis and Clark Story. 58:28. Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, National Park Service. 2020: York: The African American Man Traveling with the Lewis & Clark Expedition. 8:16. BrightRoad2Success.

2021: Lewis & Clark State Historic Site, Illinois Department of Natural Resources. York Before the Expedition. 9:16. Building the Team VII: York On the Expedition. 8:30. York After the Expedition 10:40.