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 Sergent Charles Floyd Jr.
N 42° 27.758 W 096° 22.675
14T E 715581 N 4704475
The final resting place of Sergent Charles Floyd Jr. the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die on the journey.
Waymark Code: WM5H8C
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 01/07/2009
Views: 47
The 100 ' high stone obelisk memorializes Sgt. Charles Floyd.
Nine feet square at the base and six feet square at the top and is capped with aluminum connected to copper grounding wires to protect it from lightning strikes. There is an inner concrete core which is four and one-half feet square at the base and three feet square at the top. The bones of Sergeant Floyd were placed in urns and then placed in the concrete core.
Construction of the monument began with the pouring of the concrete foundation on May 29, 1900. Construction was stopped at the 55 foot level in November of 1900 due to weather. On March 28, 1901, construction was continued and the capstone was laid on April 22, 1901. The monument was dedicated on May 30, 1901.
Design was by the U.S. Army Engineers, Captain James C. Sanford and Captain Hiram M. Chittenden with Assistant Engineer Bathurst Smith. The stone is Kettle River sandstone. Total amount of money spent from all sources was $12,600.
The monument was recognized as the First National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior in 1960.
Description:
The Sergeant Floyd Monument commemorates Sergeant Charles Floyd, Jr., the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die on the journey. Writing in his diary on July 31st, Floyd noted, "I am verry sick and has ben for Sometime but have Recovered my helth again." However, this quick recovery was followed by a turn for the worse. The night before his death, Clark remarked, "Serjeant Floyd is taken verry bad all at once with a Biliose Chorlick we attempt to relieve him without success as yet, hr gets worst and we are much allarmed at his Situation, all attention to him" (DeVoto 1997, 21). On August 20, 1804, Floyd passed away, most likely from peritonitis, caused by the inflammation or rupture of his appendix. He died from an illness that even the best doctors of the day could not have cured. Clark wrote:
. . . Serj. Floyd died with a great deal of composure. Before his death he said to me, "I am going away. I want you to write me a letter." We buried him on the top of the bluff ½ mile below a small river to which we gave his name. He was buried with the Honors of War much lamented. A seeder post with the (I) Name Sergt. C. Floyd died here 20th of August 1804 was fixed at 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 . . . (Jones 2000, 9)
Date of birth: 01/01/1782
Date of death: 08/20/1804
Area of notoriety: Exploration
Marker Type: Urn
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: sunrise to sunset, year-round
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
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