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. In doing so he became the first African American to cross the continent and to see the Pacific Ocean. He has since become an American icon and several monuments depicting him have been erected in honor of his legacy.
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 . He was about the same age as Clark, perhaps a few years older or younger, and naturally strong. 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", but Clark refused repeatedly and became angry when York would not go back willingly to his pre-expedition role as Clark's body servant. He also expressed irritation at York's insistence on remaining in Louisville, where his wife and possibly children were. He whipped York.
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.
Early life York was born in Caroline County near Ladysmith, Virginia. His skin was dark-colored. He and several members of his family were enslaved by the Clark family. The will of John Clark III (father of George Rogers and William Clark) states:*William English, Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778–1783, and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill, 1896, p. 49.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 for 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. This would make Scipio, Daphney, Juba, and Nancy the half-siblings of York.
On the expedition
York "participated fully in the journey and contributed in significant ways to its success." Surviving records of the well-documented trip do not reveal any overt racial bias against him. 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. He could swim, which many of the troupe could not. He was also allowed to use a rifle, something the enslaved were not ordinarily permitted. When a decision had to be made, York's vote counted equally with those of the white men. The expedition apparently maintained none of the usual restrictions on the movement of enslaved people, and while opportunities to escape may have appeared, York remained with the Corps of Discovery.
A modern writer has called York indispensable to the expedition. The journals are peppered with references to York's hunting prowess: he shot buffalo, deer, and geese alike. His use of a rifle is highly unusual and shows the trust expedition members had in him. His skill in hunting with a rifle may have antedated the expedition. He also kept his eye out for new species, for which the expedition was searching. He played a major role in the heavy work of paddling upstream, portaging, and building shelters. He aided in navigating trails and waterways.
York and Native Americans York's most spectacular contributions were with the Native American tribes the expedition came into contact with, whose assistance was sometimes very necessary. According to the journals of the expedition members, York's blackness served as a passport with them; they were impressed by such a "strange creature". According to Richard Betts, he was "the main attraction in Lewis and Clark's travelling magic show." York was a sensation.
The following excerpts are from the expedition's official report:
York is not mentioned by name, but at their 1805–06 winter camp on the Columbia River, Indians brought their women to market "for a fishinghook or a string of beads", resulting in cases of "venereal disease".
The memory of York persisted in Indian oral tradition until the 20th century.
Arriving at the Pacific and voting On November 18, 1805, York accompanied Clark to a tree at what is now Cape Disappointment State Park in the U.S. state of Washington, where Clark added his name to Lewis's and carved in the tree "By Land from the U. States in 1804 & 1805". York became the first African-American man to reach the Pacific Ocean when he walked from camp with Clark. In late November, all the members of the party, including York and Sacagawea, were consulted by the leaders as to where to camp for the winter. According to Martin Plamondon II, to call this a vote, as it is often called, is to create a myth; there is no implication that the vote of the majority was followed. He calls it "polling" rather than voting. 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 is first mentioned in Clark's journal on December 26, 1803, when Clark writes that York and Corporal Whitehouse had been working with the whipsaws, indicating that he was already working with the other men on the expedition. Clark mentions York again in his journal on June 5, 1804, noting that York had swum to a sand bar from the keelboat in order to collect some greens for dinner. The majority of the men on the expedition could not swim. Clark and another man said that, on June 20, 1804, York almost lost his eye during an assault/altercation when he had sand thrown at him. York was mentioned again in Clark's journal after a small party including York descended the Spirit Mound Historic Prairie. Clark said that "York was nearly exhausted by the heat, thirst and fatigue". Clark said this was because York was too fat and unaccustomed to walking quickly. In September 1804 it was noted that while on a hunting party York had killed an elk. There is no record of York having trained to use a firearm, which was not generally allowed for slaves.
After the expedition All the men of the expedition except York received double pay according to rank, $5 to $30 per month, and each enlisted man was granted of land. York, as a slave, received nothing.
Contrary to the general belief that Clark freed York immediately after their return, York remained enslaved and the property of Clark for at least five more years. He accompanied Clark on the latter's celebratory visit to Washington, D.C., in 1807, and when Clark moved his family to St. Louis to take up his new position as brigadier general of the militia and Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the new territory.
Historian Robert Betts said the freedom York had during the Lewis and Clark expedition made resuming enslavement unbearable. 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. From them it was discovered that York had a wife, and that his marriage antedated the expedition, which was deliberately made up primarily of unmarried men, like Lewis and Clark themselves. All that is known of his wife is that she was from the Louisville area, where Clark and York lived before the expedition, and that she was enslaved by someone other than Clark. York's attempts to persuade Clark to let him return to the Louisville area led to a serious falling-out between them in 1808.
That year Clark moved to St. Louis, to take up his new duties as US agent for Indian affairs. York and other household members moved with him. By November 1808, Clark was angered by York's refusal to accept the move to St. Louis and repeated requests that he be hired out in Louisville or sold to someone there. As Clark wrote his brother when finally giving in, he decided to:
York was sent to work for a strict Louisville nephew, John H. Clark. A few weeks later, Clark mentions York again to his brother:
Clark believed that York would not provide "service" in St. Louis, and this angered him. He wrote his brother again that he would have punished York, and that if he is hired out in Kentucky, it should be with a "Severe Master" so that after "a while he may do Some Service, I do not wish him again in this Country until he applies himself to Come and give over that wife of his—I wished him to Stay with his family four or five weeks only, and not 4 or 5 months."
York was forced to return to St. Louis, where Clark found him "insolent and sulky". To "mend" this, Clark whipped York ("gave him a Severe trouncing"). He put him in jail ("Caleboos", slang Spanish ) in July 1809. By August Clark had decided "to hire or Sell him". This is the last mention of York in the letters written by William Clark. An 1811 letter from a Louisville relative reported that "I don't like him nor does any other person in this country", and also that the owner of York's wife was going to move to Natchez, Mississippi. York was hired out as a wagoner, making deliveries in Louisville; the last reference to him is from 1815. Another report has him transporting goods between Nashville and Richmond.
Washington Irving's report None of the information in Clark's letters was known to the general public in the 19th and 20th centuries. During that long period, a report by Washington Irving provided the only account of York's later life. By then a successful writer, Irving visited Clark at his home near St. Louis in 1832. Irving may have been the one to ask about York, as his account labels York "the hero of the expedition", which Clark is unlikely to have stated:
Historians have been unable to verify these claims. 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". Clark's story is self-serving and reflects pro-slavery arguments that Africans were happy to be slaves and could not lead successful lives as free people. Millner further states that it is "much more likely" that York was never freed.
Zenas Leonard's report