Sergeant Floyd Monument/Lewis and Clark Expedition
N 42° 22.510 W 096° 21.299
14T E 717769 N 4694821
I-29 Rest Area Historic Marker re 'Sergeant Floyd Monument' and on the obverse 'Lewis and Clark Expedition'
Waymark Code: WM1TK8
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 07/08/2007
Views: 115
Sergeant Floyd Monument:
The Sergeant Floyd Monument honors Sergeant Charles Floyd, the only man to die on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He succumbed on Iowa soil and was buried near present day Sioux City. The monument was erected 1900-1901.
Lewis and Clark set out up the Missouri with 43 men on May 14, 1804, and reached the southern border of Iowa on July 18. They spent 33 days traveling along the western border of Iowa.
On August 19 Captain Clark noted that Floyd was "taken verry bad all at once with Biliose Chorlick we attempt to relieve him without success." On August 20 he recorded: "Sergeant Floyd as bad as he can be no pulse & nothing will Stay a moment on his Stomach or bowels.... Serj. Floyd Died with a great deal of Composure... We buried him on top of the bluff 1/2 mile below a Small river to which we Gave his name, he was buried with the Honors of War much lamented a Seeder post... was fixed at the head of his grave. This Man at all times gave us proofs of his firmness and Determined resolution to doe Service to his Countrey and honor to himself."
The Floyd Monument was the first Registered Historic Landmark in the United States.
Lewis and Clark Expedition:
President Jefferson sent Meriweather Lewis and William Clark to explore the Missouri River and discover a stream leading from its headwaters to the Pacific which would afford the best water route for developing commerce.
Lewis and Clark set out up the Missouri on May 14, 1804, reached the mouth of the Osage on June 1, passed the mouth of the Nodaway on July 8 and the Nishnabotna on July 14, and began poling and sailing along the southwestern border of Iowa on July 18.
On July 29 they encamped on Iowa soil a short distance above the mouth of the Boyer River. The next day they nosed their boats into the Nebraska shore at a place they called "Council Bluff" to await the arrival of the Missouri and Oto Indians.
When the Indians arrived on August 3, Lewis and Clark told them of their mission up the Missouri and advised them on "how they were to conduct themselves." They presented the Chiefs with medals, a "Cannister of Powder and a Bottle of Whiskey." The colorful council on the Missouri above present-day Omaha is commemorated in the town of Council Bluffs, Iowa.
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