LEWIS AND CLARK CORPS OF DISCOVERY FREE SKIN
Not believing his skin color was real, they tried to “rub the black off with coarse sand,” only stopping when blood began to ooze from the raw spot.Ĭlark encouraged the Nez Perce they encountered to closely examine York and, mentions in his journal goading him to “perform” as, alternately, a frightening monster or as a harmless dancing buffoon. Slaughter points out in Exploring Lewis and Clark, “For the Nez Perce, all of the expedition’s men were remarkable, but York was the most alien of all.” A handful of white men-primarily early Russian trappers and seamen-had passed through Pacific Northwest territory by the early 19th century but apparently never a black man. When the men voted on where to spend the winter of 1805, according to Clark's journal, York’s ballot was counted as equal to the others.Ī combination of fear and curiosity about York may have given Lewis and Clark a leg up in their interactions with Native Americans across the West. Clark often chose York as one of the men to accompany him on scouting trips and, when game was scarce later on in the journey, York was sent with only one other man to barter for food with the Nez Perce, whose hospitality proved crucial to the expedition’s success. But during their journey York carried a gun and regularly managed to shoot buffalo, deer, geese and brant to feed the party. Back in Kentucky, where the Clark property stood, like all enslaved individuals, he was prohibited from using firearms. Just a month in to their journey, one of the party threw sand at York, which according to Clark’s journal, resulted in him “nearly loseing an eye.”īut York was one of them now, and for all intents and purposes, his role in the Corps of Discovery was equal to that of the expedition’s white men. And they weren’t shy about sharing their opinions. Louis on May 14, 1804, not all of its members-all of whom were white and many of whom had been raised in the South, were eager to have an African-American at their side.
But when the men returned to the East legends and heroes, York, whose contributions to the expedition rivaled that of his comrades, returned to a life of enslavement. “Servents feet also frosted.” Native Americans they encountered were reportedly awestruck with York's appearance, and he was later allowed to have a vote in key decisions. “Several men returned a little frost bit,” wrote Clark in his journal. In early December 1804, York was one of 15 men on a dangerous buffalo hunt to replenish their supply. As detailed in The Journals of Lewis and Clark, during the two years of the Corps of Discovery expedition, York handled firearms, killed game and helped to navigate trails and waterways. In the West, Clark found a version of servitude vastly different from the one he had been born into. Betts, York was born into slavery, the son of “Old York” and Rose, two enslaved laborers owned by Clark’s father John.ĭuring the 28-month journey, Clark experienced a dramatic upheaval. And they chose York, Clark’s 6-feet, 200-pound “body servant.”Īccording to In Search of York, by author Robert B.
They chose interpreters and French oarsmen who knew the country better than they.
They selected soldiers that had demonstrated bravery in battle. When Meriwether Lewis invited Clark, his army buddy and an accomplished soldier and outdoorsman, to accompany him on a journey across the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase Territory in 1803, the two conferred at length about the men that would accompany them on what would be called the Corps of Discovery. Clark was the white son of a prominent southern farmer, and York was a black, enslaved laborer. Though he had grown up side-by-side with William Clark-future leader of the first-known expedition to travel over land from the Eastern seaboard to the Pacific Ocean-the two were not equals. Then again, York didn’t have a say in the matter.
It wasn’t York’s choice to join the expedition. A statue of York with Lewis and Clark in Great Falls, Montana.
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