Livingston is the county seat of Park County and is in southwestern Montana, on the Yellowstone River, north of Yellowstone National Park.
The community was first named Clark City in honor of Herman Clark, a well known contractor and builder for the Northern Pacific Railroad.
The town plat was filed later that year under the name Livingston in recognition of Johnston Livingston, a director and major stockholder of the railroad.
The railroad provided a means of transporting coal, wool, and cattle to market. It also enabled Livingston to serve as the original gateway to Yellowstone, the nation’s first national park. Mining and agriculture were additional economic factors in the town’s development.
Today, Livingston is the 11th largest city in Montana. Rail transportation continues to be a mainstay of the area’s economy, along with tourism, recreation, agriculture, and mining.
Sacajawea and her son traveled with Captain William Clark down the Yellowstone River passing through this area on July 15, 1806. Sacajawea was a Shoshoni teenager whose knowledge of native tribes, languages, and geographical landmarks of this area proved invaluable to the Corps. She was the wife of Charbonneau, a French interpreter who offered his services to Lewis and. Clark at Ft. Mandan (in present day North Dakota) on their westward journey. She gave birth to a son, Jean Baptiste, at Fort Mandan and took him with her to the Pacific Ocean and back. Sacajawea assisted the Corps of Discovery in trading for horses with the Lemhi Shoshoni tribe.
What did Sacajawea look like? She is one of the most recognizable women in American history but no portrait of her has never been found. Every image of her is an artist impression.
United States Golden Coin
First minted in 2000
Erected by Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, National Park Service.
Marker is on River Drive near South Yellowstone Street on the right when traveling west. The marker is in a small triangular park to the east of the intersection of River Drive and South Yellowstone Street.