York (explorer)

York was born in Caroline County near Ladysmith, Virginia. He and several members of his family were owned by the Clark family. The will of John Clark III (father of George Rogers and William Clark) states[5]:

I give and bequeath to my son Edmund... three negroes, to wit Peter (Vegas child), and Scipio and Darathy (Rose's children)... I give and bequeath to my son William... one negro 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.[6] This would make Scipio, Daphney, Juba, and Nancy the half-siblings of York.

William Clark called York his "playmate".[7] York was left to William in his father's will.[8] He had a fiancée whom he rarely saw and likely lost contact with her after 1811 when she was sold/sent to Mississippi. It is not known if York fathered any children.[9]

During the expedition William Clark only mentioned York three times in journal he kept[1]. York is first mentioned in Clark's journal on December 26th 1803, Clark mentions that York and corporal White House had been working with the whipsaws indicating that he was already working with the other men on the expedition[1]. Clark mentions York again in his journal on June 5th 1804, noting that York had swum to a sand bar from the Keelboat in order to collect some greens for dinner[1]. The majority of the men on the expedition could not swim. At least two men on the expedition including Captain Clark mentioned that on June 20th, York almost lost his eye during a playful altercation when he had sand thrown at him[2]. York was mentioned again in Captain Clark's journal after a small party including York had descended the Spirit Mound Historic Prairie, Clark notes that "York was nearly exhausted by the heat, thirst and fatigue. Captain Clark said this is because York is too fat and unaccustomed to walk so fast"[2]. On September 19th it's noted that while on a hunting party York had killed an elk [2], there is no record of York having training with a weapon which was not allowed for slaves at that time. Once the party reached the Arikara villages they were fascinated with York since they had never seen a black man before [3]. The natives called him "Big Medicine", which translates to something that cannot be explained.[1] York would play with the children of the villages and tell them that he was previously a wild animal that was tamed by Captain Clark and that he thought children were very good to eat. While playing these games with the children, he would show them how strong he was and roar at them.[3] The men and women of the villages adored York as well. On October 12th, 1804, it is noted that an Arikara welcomed York to his lodge, where the native man's wife was waiting. The Arikara man stood guard outside for some time in order to permit no interruption of their business.[2] "Their women are very fond of caressing our men, and are much pleased with York. He had fun terrifying the children who constantly follow him,"[2] October 15th 1804. York was not pleased with all the attention he received though. During a meeting with a Hidatsa chief named Le Borge, York became very angry and pulled a knife on the chief after he had tried to rub York's skin, thinking it was paint [1]. On November 18th 1805, York accompanied Captain Clark to the tree at Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington where Clark added to Lewis's name carved in the tree " By Land from the U. States in 1804 & 1805" [3]. York had become the first black man to reach the Pacific Ocean when he walks nineteen miles from their camp with Captain Clark [1]. Sometime as well in late November, York was allowed to cast a vote on a decision pertaining to the expedition, making him the first black man known to have voted west of the Mississippi [1]. All the men of the expedition were paid according to rank $5 to $30 per month and granted 320 acres for each enlisted men, except for York [3].

Historian Robert Betts says that the freedom York had during the Lewis and Clark expedition made resuming enslavement unbearable.[10] After the expedition returned to the United States, every other member received money and land for their services. York asked Clark for his freedom based upon his good services during the expedition. According to one account discussed below, Clark eventually gave him his freedom.

"It is shown that York had gained a little freedom while on the expedition with Lewis and Clark. It is mentioned in journals that York went on scouting trips and going to trade with villages, experiencing freedom while doing that. Clark named two geographic discoveries after him; York's Eight Islands and York's Dry Creek, indicating that Clark may have respected him. When a poll was taken to decide where the group should stay over one winter, York's vote was recorded. He was also able to swim, unlike some of the men who were with them on their expedition.[11]

He was vital to the expedition because the Native Americans worshiped him, so they were willing to trade with the rest of the expedition. Because of his dark skin, they thought he was the god of the black bear. https://www.nps.gov/lecl/learn/historyculture/york.htm

As to York's later life and death, Washington Irving was told by William Clark in 1832 that Clark had freed York, but that York regretted being free because he was a failure at business, and died trying to get back to serve his master as a slave again in St. Louis. Some modern historians doubt the credibility of Clark's story because it reflects pro-slavery arguments that Africans were happy to be slaves, and could not lead successful lives as free people.[12] Others hold out the possibility that, as Clark's childhood playmate and long-time companion, the two men possessed a measure of friendship and mutual respect that was atypical for the time.[13] However, manumission laws and practices of the era often required freed slaves to leave the area, and their family and friends.

Another account has led to speculation that York returned west and lived among the Indians. This speculation seems to be based on the account by Zenas Leonard who reported meeting with an African man living among the Crows in north-central Wyoming in 1834, writing:

In this village we found a negro man, who informed us that he first came to this country with Lewis & Clark—with whom he also returned to the State of Missouri, and in a few years returned again with a Mr. Mackinney, a trader on the Missouri river, and has remained here ever since—which is about ten or twelve years. He has acquired a correct knowledge of their manner of living, and speaks their language fluently. He has rose [sic] to be quite a considerable character, or chief, in their village; at least he assumes all the dignities of a chief, for he has four wives, with whom he lives alternately.[14]

However, the black man who lived among the Crow was most likely the well-known African American Mountain Man, Edward Rose (c.1780-c.1833). Though Leonard's account of this unnamed man came after the reported deaths of both Rose and York.

York had experienced freedom on his adventures with Lewis and Clark. He was part of the team, and he contributed just like the rest with hunting, fishing, putting up tents etc. He had crossed rivers and mountains on the expedition and had a taste of what true freedom is like. On the expedition he felt like a free man, but when he returned east he was a slave again.[15]

In the PBS series Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, director Ken Burns states that York continued to work for Clark as a slave after the expedition. York asked for his freedom and at first Clark refused but did send him to Kentucky so he could be closer to his wife. Ten years after the expedition Clark granted York his freedom and York worked in the freighting business in Tennessee and Kentucky. In 1832, York died from cholera.[16]

There is no doubt that York played a very important role while reading through the journals written during the expedition. Not only did he fulfill his duties as a laborer along the expedition, the journals also suggest that the color of York's his skin intrigued the Native tribes so much they seemingly gave the expedition a pass through thel and as well as commencing with trade [1]. The journals also suggest that York had gained the respect of many of the men who were part of the expedition as well [1].

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• List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area
• List of slaves
• Stephen Bishop (cave explorer), another accomplished African-American slave from Kentucky, renowned as an explorer.

• Robert Betts, In Search of York: The Slave Who Went to the Pacific With Lewis and Clark. University Press of Colorado, 1985 (revised 2002).
• James Holmberg, Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark. Yale University Press, 2002, 2nd Printing
• Catherine McGrew Jaime, York Proceeded On: The Lewis & Clark Expedition through the Eyes of Their Forgotten Member. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011

• "York". The Encyclopedia of Louisville. 2001.
• "York: The Voice of Freedom"
• English, William Hayden. Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778–1783, and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark. 2 vols. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill, 1896.

• Natanson, Hannah (12 January 2020). "An enslaved man was crucial to the Lewis and Clark expedition's success. Clark refused to free him afterward". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
• Lewis and Clark Journals, Members of the Expedition (U. Nebraska)
• Who was York?
• York at Find a Grave
• Lewis and Clark website @ PBS
• Recognizing York: A Community Initiative. Lewis and Clark College, Portland Oregon.
• York of the Corps of Discovery Darrell M. Millner, Oregon Historical Quarterly 104.3 (Fall 2003)
• Searching for York, Oregon Experience (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Vote 4 York Black Heritage Stamp 2013, Jackson Davis V