Sioux City - Site of the Death of Sgt. Floyd

The Corps of Discovery arrived here in the Sioux City area on August 20, 1804 -- 57 days after passing the last settlement of whites which was in St. Charles, Missouri (we were there just five days ago). Of course, if you look at a map of the Missouri River you will see that it has a good number of very deep "s" curves so the Corps floated alot more miles than we drove AND they were going against a very strong current such that a 10 mile day would be outstanding. (no motors either - just back breaking paddling, towing and poling)

We had the joy of awakening to gorgeous clear blue skies, nary a cloud, and nice warm sunshine making for perfect day for being out and about which is good since we did alot of that.

Our tour bus took us first to the Sergeant Floyd River Museum which is housed in an old river boat by the name of Sergeant Floyd in Sioux City, Iowa.

Beverly Hinds, an eighty-four year old fountain of information about Lewis and Clark spent time with us there sharing a good deal of information about the expedition including telling us the story of Sergeant Floyd who was the only casualty of the 2 1/2 year expedition.

 He died not far from where we were and was buried not once, not twice but four different times in the vicinity.  It is felt he probably had a burst appendix. This is a picture she shared taken at his third burial which by then was bones and his skull in an urn on August 20, 1895 (91 years to the day of his death)

he now is buried on a high bluff overlooking the Missouri River with this very tall obelisk marking the spot.  

This marker gives the information about the final burial

You will note that the flag by the mannikan has 15 stripes and 15 stars which was the official US flag at the time of the expedition.  It is also the flag flying at the monument.

The plaza area around the memorial is dedicated to our guide, Beverly's husband.  Whose name we realized when we saw it was the name on the keel boat we saw yesterday as he helped Butch build the original keel boat back in the 1980's and much of the wood was reused in making the one that is now on display.  It seems that Butch was good friends with Beverly and her husband.

It is a bit blurred when you zero in on the name from a larger photo of the keel boat we saw yesterday but indeed, here is V. Strode Hinds name.

Suddenly we realized what a treasure we had as our guide both at the boat museum and at the monument.  Thank you again to Winnebago and the planners of our trip.

This is Beverly answering questions while we were at the memorial.  She was so eager to share with all of us!

As you can see in the background of the above photo we were on a high enough spot so as to be able to see great distances.  One of the neat things was that this is a tri city in a tri state area.  North Sioux City is in South Dakota, South Sioux City is in Nebraska, and Sioux City is in Iowa.  Beverly told us it makes for interesting times since each state has different laws and tax structure.  This view straight out shows how close Nebraska was as the river divides the states.  Off to the right we could see a water tower that was in South Dakota.

One other thing that Beverly shared with us was that the dog, Seaman, that Lewis took with him did not look like the Newfoundland dogs of today.  In his time they had a lot less fur and were more of a tan color rather than the black so many represent it as today.  He cost Lewis $20 at the time which would be about $1000 today.  She said he would have weighed around 150 pounds which also is heavier than the dogs of today.  These dogs actually swim by reaching out with their very large paws so would have been very valuable when men went over board and needed to be rescued.  He saved their lives too when he awakened them as a buffalo was charging their way.

Beverly had a variety of artifacts to share with us including a pickly pear so we could get a real feel for what they dealt with as they walked.  It seems the spines have a little hook on the end so there is trick to removing them without tearing the skin.  The men would have had to remove alot of them each night as well as take them out of Seamen's paws.  This was not a trip just anyone could do for sure.

Another artifact she showed us was this fire starter that they used.  It was a brass tin that they could put dried weeds and grasses into then point the little magnifying glass toward the sun to start the fire inside.  As you can see by this little note it was a prized gift to the Indians.

Eventually we had to tear ourselves away from this museum so we could walk along the river a short distance to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

Statues outside represented some of the animals seen during the travels including grizzly bears

This statue of Lewis and Clark along with their dog Seaman was outside the entry

Inside were many displays about their daily lives as they traveled, Indians they met, and of course the death of Sgt. Floyd.  They also had an excellent movie called Two Worlds at Two Medicine about the Blackfoot Indians and the encounter Lewis and a couple of his men had with them.  This was the only truly disastrous contact with Indians during the entire Expedition when two young Indians were killed.

One diorama contained automatons of Lewis and Clark speaking at the burial of Sgt. Floyd.  I was intrigued with the difference in their uniforms - Clark's had gold braiding, button, and ornament around the neck while Lewis' was silver.  I found out that this marked Clark as a Captain of Artillery and Lewis as a Captain of Infantry. 

The dress on the other men was probably what they wore.  As military men they would have had standard issue clothing - not buckskins as movies and pictures so often show.  Also they would have been required to shave each day so they would not have had beards.

One room was filled with framed plant pressings such as this one to show some of the new plants discovered and recorded by Lewis while they traveled.  His diary with all of the drawings was also there.

One of the items Lewis had to buy was enough ink and pen points plus paper for recording all they would see and do during the expedition.  Since every man on the trip was expected to keep a diary that must have been alot of ink and paper. This is what a quill and small ink bottle would have been like for each man to carry.

On display was this tippet or shawl that Lewis was given that he described as the most elegant piece of Indian dress he ever saw

A mannikan Indian woman wore this outfit showing the beauty of the buffalo robes that carried artistic drawings and designs often telling a story.

Again we had to be torn away so that we could go a couple of blocs to this lovely restaurant on the Missouri River for our buffet lunch.

The river flowed just outside these huge plate glass windows.

And we enjoyed this food which included salad greens, lots of meats, cheeses, breads, fruit and vegetable beef soup.  They feed us well on these trips

When we returned to our campground, we discovered that friends, Marvin and Annamae Engstrom, from a previous caravan had driven down from their nearby home to see those they knew.

After our travel meeting, Frank and Bette Foulke drove us to the nearby Culver's for an ice cream treat before doing a bit of shopping at WalMart in preparation for another day of travel.

All in all it was a beautiful day!