Pompey's Pillar
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406-875-2400Description:
Come visit the only visible physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition at Pompey's Pillar. Lewis and Clark journeyed across the interior of the North American continent in 1804-1806 seeking the elusive Northwest Passage. Even before Lewis and Clark returned to St Louis in 1806, people were following in their footsteps. Today, two hundred years later, people come from across the world to see and experience what Lewis and Clark so famously journaled about.
Just 30 miles from Billings, Montana is the only visible physical evidence of the Corps of Discovery's stop here. On their homeward journey, the Corps split up to explore a wider area. While Meriwether Lewis went north towards Canada, William Clark and his party traveled along the Yellowstone River. As Clark had done so many times before, he charted and named geological features. Pompey's Pillar is a large sandstone outcropping named for the youngest member of the expedition. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, or "Pomp", was Sacagawea's toddler son who Clark would eventually raise as his own. What makes this particular geographical feature special, however, is that Clark inscribed his name on the rock among native pictographs. Eventually pioneers would follow Clark's example and sign their names too.
The area is now a National Historic Monument. In 2006, the BLM completed a new interpretive center that explores William Clark and his party that traveled down the Yellowstone River in 1806. From the interpretive center, you can take a boardwalk out to see the pictographs, Clark's signature, and hundreds of others.
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