What was the name of the slave that was brought on the expedition?

Whether the enslaved, 30-something black man wanted to participate in Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the Pacific Ocean is impossible to know — almost certainly, no one ever asked him. Compelled to join by the man who owned him, William Clark, York proved crucial to the explorers’ success.

Who was Clark’s African American slave?

York
York was an African American slave best known for his participation in the (Meriwether) Lewis and (William) Clark Expedition of 1804-1806. York was born in Caroline County, Virginia in 1770.

What slave was brought on the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

York was William Clark’s slave and an integral member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, sent by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Territory and the Oregon Country in 1804–1806. The written descriptions of York portray him as large, dark, strong, and agile.

Did William Clark have a slave?

York, the life-long slave of William Clark, is one of the most interesting members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His role throughout the Expedition was remarkable and he seems to have been treated much like the rest of the men during the journey.

Who was the slave that Lewis and Clark traveled with?

York was born in Virginia in about 1770, apparently to slaves who were owned by the family of William Clark. York and Clark were roughly the same age, and it seems likely they had known each other since childhood.

Who was the black man on the Clark Expedition?

There is no clear record of what happened to York. Some accounts have him dead before 1830, but there are also stories of a Black man, said to be York, living among Indians in the early 1830s. When Meriwether Lewis listed the expedition participants, he wrote that York was, “A black man by the name of York, servant to Capt. Clark.”

Who was still enslaved at the end of the expedition?

The incident of the vote has often been cited by admirers of Lewis and Clark, as well as some historians, as proof of the enlightened attitudes on the expedition. Yet when the expedition ended, York was still enslaved. A tradition developed that Clark had freed York at the end of the expedition, but that is not accurate.

Why was New York not on Lewis and Clark Expedition?

It wasn’t York’s choice to join the expedition. Then again, York didn’t have a say in the matter. Though he had grown up side-by-side with William Clark—future leader of the first-known expedition to travel over land from the Eastern seaboard to the Pacific Ocean—the two were not equals.

York was born in Virginia in about 1770, apparently to slaves who were owned by the family of William Clark. York and Clark were roughly the same age, and it seems likely they had known each other since childhood.

There is no clear record of what happened to York. Some accounts have him dead before 1830, but there are also stories of a Black man, said to be York, living among Indians in the early 1830s. When Meriwether Lewis listed the expedition participants, he wrote that York was, “A black man by the name of York, servant to Capt. Clark.”

The incident of the vote has often been cited by admirers of Lewis and Clark, as well as some historians, as proof of the enlightened attitudes on the expedition. Yet when the expedition ended, York was still enslaved. A tradition developed that Clark had freed York at the end of the expedition, but that is not accurate.

Who was freed by Lewis and Clark in 1832?

Historians have noted that there are no documents establishing that York had ever been freed. Clark, however, in a conversation with the writer Washington Irving in 1832, did claim to have freed York. There is no clear record of what happened to York.