- Born:
- Early 1770s, Virginia, U.S.
- Died:
- Before 1832
York, enslaved man
Who was York, and what was his role in the Lewis and Clark expedition?
What is known about York’s early life?
How did Native Americans perceive York during the expedition?
What happened to York after the expedition?
York, enslaved man (born Early 1770s, Virginia, U.S.—died Before 1832) was an enslaved man who joined Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lieut. William Clark on their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase and Pacific Northwest territories. He was the only African American who participated in the journey. He was owned by Clark and his family for much of his life. Relatively little information survives about York, but he has been a subject of fascination and rumors for many generations.
Early years
Robert B. Betts, the author of the most thorough study of York’s life and legacy, In Search of York: The Slave Who Went to the Pacific with Lewis and Clark (1985), has argued that York was probably born a few years after Clark, in the early 1770s. His parents, named Old York and Rose, had belonged to the Clark family from their birth. York spent his early years on the plantation that belonged to Clark’s father, in eastern Virginia, until the Clark family moved to Kentucky in 1784 and 1785. This was apparently when York became Clark’s personal servant. “His training would have prepared him to be a combination of a valet and a confidant,” Betts wrote.
Accompanying Clark
“The Indians [are] much astonished at my black servant and call him the big medicine. This nation never saw a black man before.”—from William Clark’s journal, October 9, 1804.
Between 1789 and 1796, the years Clark served in the military, it is likely that York stayed on the plantation, but known historical records do not establish his whereabouts. He almost certainly, however, accompanied Clark on the many trips Clark took between 1796 and 1803 conducting business on the family’s behalf, which brought Clark into contact with Pres. Thomas Jefferson through his friend Lewis, Jefferson’s personal secretary.
In 1803 Lewis invited Clark to join him on an exploratory trip to the Pacific. By this time York was married, according to a letter Clark wrote to his brother in 1805. York’s wife lived in Kentucky and was owned by another man. York apparently had a large stature, and Clark described him as overweight.
In the journals Clark kept during the expedition, York is rarely mentioned by name. A December 26, 1803, entry describes him helping build the fort and huts at Camp Dubois in Illinois. In April 1804 he went to a ball with Lewis and Clark in St. Louis (in what is now Missouri). Their famous expedition left from Camp Dubois the following month. An entry from June 1804 says York swam to a sandbar to collect “greens” for the group’s dinner. Also that month another man in the group threw sand into York’s eyes—“in fun,” Clark wrote. Historians have speculated about whether this was done as a form of abuse, because York was restricted from defending himself, or part of good-natured horseplay that suggested he had been accepted as a full member of the group.
York’s role in the expedition
York had several roles during the trip. He served as a caregiver to the quartermaster, Sgt. Charles Floyd, before Floyd died in August 1804—and he apparently did the same for the expedition’s Native American guide, Sacagawea, when she was in the late stages of pregnancy. He routinely hunted game for the others, including buffalo and deer, and sometimes joined soldiers on scouting missions.
The Native Americans the expedition encountered may have never seen an African American. Regardless, they were fascinated by York, according to Clark’s journals. In October 1804 Clark recorded that Natives were calling York “the big medicine.” It seems he had a playful manner with the Native American children, who followed him around.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
Seeking freedom
The group returned from the expedition in 1806. Clark married in 1808 and settled permanently in St. Louis. York apparently asked Clark for his freedom so that he could live in Kentucky with his wife, but Clark refused, citing financial difficulties. Clark allowed York to stay in Louisville, Kentucky, for a few weeks, but when York returned, Clark found him “insolent and sulky” and gave him a “Severe trouncing.” Ultimately, York was sent to Louisville for at least two years, where he was hired out to a demanding master. But he was separated from his wife (and possibly his children) again, when they were taken to Natchez, Mississippi.
Clark later told writer Washington Irving that he eventually freed York and gave him a wagon and team of horses so that he could make a living. He also said that York had a difficult time as a freedman: For instance, some of his horses became ill, and he was cheated when he sold others. Historians, however, have been unable to verify this. Clark also told Irving that York died of cholera, sometime before 1832.