William Clark - The Lewis and Clark Expedition Journals - St. Albans, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 34.844 W 090° 46.282
15S E 694125 N 4272606
DAR Marker next to the Merewether Lewis House
Waymark Code: WM12TNG
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 07/14/2020
Views: 2
County of marker: Franklin County
Location of marker: , St. Albans
Marker erected: October 24, 1971
Erected by: Carnella Greene Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution
Marker Text:
COMMEMORATING
THE VISIT OF
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
MAY 23, 1804
TAVERN CAVE AND CLIFFS
LOCATED 1 3/4 MILES EAST OF
ST ALBANS
We passed a large cave on the LB side called by the French The Tavern - about 120 feet wide 40 feet deep & 20 feet high. Cap Lewis assended the cliffs near falling from the pinecles of rock 300 feet. He caught at 20 foot.
Original Journals of the Expedition
"On May 23, 1804, two days after leaving St. Charles, the expedition visited Tavern Cave, located on the south bank of the Missouri River at the base of a huge sandstone bluff called Tavern Rock. This landmark, well known to indigenous tribes and European trappers and traders, was first described by Clark as “…an endented part of a Rock which juted over the water, Called by the french the tavern which is a Cave 40 yds. long with the river 4 feet Deep & about 20 feet high, this is a place the India[ns] & french Pay omage to, many names are wrote up on the rock Mine among others…” Clark also wrote that “Capt Lewis' assended the hill which has peninsulis projecting in raged points to the river, and was near falling from a Peninsulia […]Saved himself by the assistance of his Knife…” On September 21, 1806, the expedition once again passed Tavern Cave on their journey home.
"Tavern Cave is one of the best known surviving landmarks of early Missouri River exploration, and has likely provided shelter to humans for thousands of years. During the 18th and 19th centuries, it served as a stopover for both Native American bands and European-American travelers. Tavern Cave is noted on the Evans- Mackay map of circa 1795-1797, which Thomas Jefferson provided to Lewis and Clark. Today, the Missouri River channel has shifted to about 250 feet west of the cave mouth. Much of Tavern Rock, the bluff above the cave, was blasted away during the construction of a railroad. As a result, a large mound of debris now largely obscures the mouth of Tavern Cave." ~ National Park Service