Pompeys Pillar

“Imagine being able to caste the footprints that our astronauts left on the moon. Captain Clark’s inscription on Pompeys Pillar is the only ‘footprint’ left along the Lewis and Clark Trail,” said Pompeys Pillar Historical Association Chairman Dan Krum of Worden, Montana. “Its historic value is immeasurable.”

On July 25, 1806, Captain William Clark arrived at what he described as “a remarkable rock” and carved his name and date on its sandstone face. Protected in various fashions over the years, it still stands among the writings and pictographs Clark noted in his historic journals.

Clark named this remarkable rock for Sacajawea’s 17-month-old son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, whom he called Pomp.

Located on I-94 at exit 23, 28 miles east of Billings, Pompeys Pillar stands at a crossroads where pre-horse Native American Indian tribes hunted roaming herds of bison, elk, and antelope. Sacred to American Indians for centuries, Pompeys Pillar continues to be a beacon of history along the Yellowstone River.

For more than a decade, the PPHA has worked to preserve Pompeys Pillar for future

generations. In 1991, the association was instrumental in transferring ownership of this historic site from private hands to the Bureau of Land Management. In 2001, a second goal was accomplished when Pompeys Pillar was designated as a national monument.

The Association worked with BLM to build a 5,700 square foot Clark on the Yellowstone Interpretive Center at Pompeys Pillar. The center provides visitors and school children with a greater understanding of Clark’s exploration of the Yellowstone River and of the continuing significance of Pompeys Pillar to American Indians in this region.

The facility, located along the Yellowstone River, features interactive exhibits, original paintings by J.K. Ralston, and exhibits portraying important events on Clark’s journey.

“With the opening of the center, we are able to complete what is often the missing

chapter in the Lewis and Clark story,” said Krum. “The challenges and good fortune that helped the expedition reach the Pacific are half of the epic tale. On the return journey, Captain Meriwether Lewis retraces the journey along the Missouri and explores the Marias.

“His return story, along with Clark’s story are the other half of the epic, the half that is barely mentioned by most historians.

“Captain William Clark, with Sacajawea, of the Shoshone tribe, her little tot, Clark’s Black servant York, and half of the expedition members struck out to explore and map a new area — the Yellowstone River drainage. They had to find cottonwoods large enough to build canoes, had their herd of 50 horses stolen, built boats out of buffalo hide, saw the biggest grizzly bear on the entire journey and herds of elk and bison so vast that Clark vowed to quit writing about them because of their unbelievable numbers,” Krum related. "Sit on a cottonwood tree like the ones Clark's party finally found for canoes and take a video trip along the Yellowstone in a reenactment of the journey."

Years of interpretive development through public meetings have resulted in the final plans. The main part of the exhibit brings the “Clark on the Yellowstone” journey to life. Other displays tell the stories of the eras prior to the expedition, an overview of

the entire journey, and of the people and developments that followed President Jefferson’s explorers.

Anyone is welcome to become an association member and will receive newsletters, discounts in the gift shop, and other benefits. Contact PPHA at P.O. Box 227, Worden, MT, 59088. Visit the PPHA site at www.pompeyspillar.org.

Pompeys Pillar Visitor Center, 875-2233.

Pompeys Pillar National Monument is open for the season. The historic site where Captain William Clark carved his name July 25, 1806, is 28 miles east of Billings off Interstate 94 at Exit 23. Admission is $7 per vehicle.

Volunteer docents provide informative explanations at the site on a regular basis. The Clark on the Yellowstone Interpretive Center offers interactive exhibits and a video of the Yellowstone portion of the 1806 expedition of the Yellowstone River.

Mark Jacobsen will present “Custer and the Pillar: The Northern Pacific Railroad Expedition of 1873.” The program features highlights from the expedition as they relate to Pompeys Pillar. It also gives a brief treatise on the role of trumpeters in the frontier army and discusses bugle calls, their history and uses.

Jacobsen will give another program called, “Inflicting Something Wonderful on the Soldier: Outfitting the Frontier Army.” Topics include army uniforms, weapons and accoutrements, and their uses and misuses on the campaign trail.

The programs will be offered at the Pillar again on Aug. 8 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Jacobsen is a public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management in the Miles City Field Office. Pompeys Pillar National Monument will be open daily 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from May 4 through May 22, and then 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from May 23 through Sept. 7. From Sept. 8 through Oct. 9, the site will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Although the interpretive center will close for the season Oct. 9, visitors may still walk in to the site during daylight hours. The $7 per vehicle admission fee covers all occupants and is charged from May 4 to Oct. 9 when full services are provided. Interagency passes will also be honored. Daily fees and/or interagency season and senior passes may be purchased on-site or at the Information Access Center at the Bureau of Land Management Montana State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, in Billings. Fees are returned to the site to provide extra services for the public.

Camping Area Planned Near Pompeys Pillar National Monument

BILLINGS (AP) — Plans are in the works to build a 35-site campground in Yellowstone River State Park.

It would be the first state park along the river to accommodate campers, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say they would like to see it completed by this winter.

The 200-acre park is 30 miles northeast of Billings upstream of Pompeys Pillar National Monument. The campground would be on a 5-acre parcel in the southeast corner of the park.

FWP Region 5 parks manager Doug Habermann said the new campground would complement Pompeys Pillar National Monument, which doesn’t allow camping.

The plans must first undergo a subdivision review by Yellowstone County and Habermann said he is unsure how long that will take.