York ( explorer ) - wikipedia York ( explorer ) York - Corps of Discovery Explorer York statue at Riverfront Plaza / Belvedere, Louisville, Kentucky 1770 Ladysmith, Caroline County, Virginia < 1832 unknown Cause of death Most likely cholera or any other disease Resting place unknown Nationality American Occupation non-hired hand, explorer, businessman Employer Clark Family, U.S. government, self - employed Notable work Helping cross the United States. Home town Ladysmith, Caroline County, Virginia Movement Lewis and Clark Expedition Spouse ( s ) Parent ( s ) Rose Relatives Juba ( brother ), Nancy ( sister ) Military career Allegiance United States Service / branch United States Army Years of service 1803 - 1806 Rank sergeant ( honorary posthumous - Presidential citation ) Unit Corps of Discovery York ( 1770 -- before 1832 ) was an African - American explorer best known for his participation with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Enslaved by William Clark 's father and passed down through a will to William Clark, he performed hard manual labor without pay, but participated as a full member of the expedition. Like many other expedition members, his ultimate fate is unclear. There is evidence that after the expedition 's return, Clark had difficulty compelling York to resume his former status, and York may have later escaped or been freed, but nothing is entirely clear on this. Contents 1 Early life 2 Lewis and Clark Expedition 3 Later years and ultimate fate 4 Legacy 4.1 Popular culture 4.2 Honors 5 See also 6 Further reading 7 References 8 External links Early life York was born in Caroline County near Ladysmith, Virginia. He, his father, his mother ( Rose ) and younger sister and brother ( Nancy and Juba ), were enslaved by the Clark family. York was William Clark 's slave from boyhood, and was left to William in his father 's will. He had a fiance whom he rarely saw, and likely lost contact with her after 1811 when she was sold / sent to Mississippi. It is not known if York fathered any children. Lewis and Clark expedition Historian Robert Betts says that the freedom York had during the Lewis and Clark expedition made resuming enslavement unbearable. After the expedition returned to the United States, every other member received money and land for their services. York asked Clark for his freedom based upon his good services during the expedition. According to one account discussed below, Clark eventually gave him his freedom. It is shown that York had gained a little freedom while on the expedition with Lewis and Clark. It is mentioned in journals that York went on scouting trips and going to trade with villages so he saw what freedom was like while doing that. He might have also been shown respect by Clark because Clark named two geographic discoveries after him ; York 's Eight Islands and York 's Dry Creek. Also they took a poll of where they should stay over one winter and York 's opinion was recorded even though it was last. This shows that York had a taste of freedom and possibly gained some respect by the fellow travelers on the expedition. Also he was able to swim unlike some of the men that were with them on their expedition. Later years and ultimate fate As to York 's later life and death, semi-contemporaries Washington Irving and Zenas Leonard give contradictory accounts. When Irving interviewed Clark in 1832, Clark claimed to have freed York, but that York regretted being free because he was a failure at business, and died trying to get back to serve his master as a slave again in St. Louis. Some contemporary historians doubt the accuracy of Clark 's story, for it reflects pro-slavery arguments that Africans were happy to be slaves, and could not lead successful lives as free people. However, manumission laws and practices of the era often required freed slaves to leave the area, and their family and friends. Betts and Áhati N.N. Touré suggest that York simply refused to return to Clark, and escaped to freedom. Leonard reported meeting with an African man living among the Crows in north - central Wyoming in 1834, writing : In this village we found a negro man, who informed us that he first came to this country with Lewis & Clark -- with whom he also returned to the State of Missouri, and in a few years returned again with a Mr. Mackinney, a trader on the Missouri river, and has remained here ever since - which is about ten or twelve years. He has acquired a correct knowledge of their manner of living, and speaks their language fluently. He has rose ( sic ? ) to be quite a considerable character, or chief, in their village ; at least he assumes all the dignities of a chief, for he has four wives, with whom he lives alternately. York had experienced freedom on his adventures with Lewis and Clark. He was part of the team, and he contributed just like the rest with hunting, fishing, putting up tents etc. He had crossed rivers and mountains on the expedition and had a taste of what true freedom is like. On the expedition he felt like a free man, and then when he returned east he was a slave again, in a world where there was slavery and bondage. According to yet another source, York continued to work for Clark as a slave after the expedition. York asked for his freedom and at first Clark refused but did send him to Kentucky so he could be closer to his wife. Ten years after the expedition Clark granted York his freedom and York worked in the freighting business in Tennessee and Kentucky. In 1832, York died from cholera. Legacy Part of a series on Slavery Contemporary Child labour Child soldiers Conscription Debt Forced marriage Bride buying Wife selling Forced prostitution Human trafficking Peonage Penal labour Sexual slavery Wage slavery Historical Antiquity Ancient Rome Babylonia Ancient Greece Topics and practices Atlantic slave trade Middle Passage Arab slave trade Ghilman Mamluk Saqaliba Aztec Blackbirding Byzantine Empire Coolie Corvée labor Field slaves in the United States House slaves Kholop Medieval Europe Panyarring Thrall Serfs History Russia Slave market Slave raiding Child soldiers Naval Galley slave Impressment Pirates Shanghaiing Slave ship By country or region Sub-Saharan Africa Contemporary Africa Slavery on the Barbary Coast Barbary slave trade Slave Coast Angola Chad Ethiopia Mali Mauritania Niger Somalia South Africa Sudan Seychelles North and South America Americas indigenous U.S. Natives Brazil Lei Áurea Canada Caribbean Barbados Code Noir Cuba Haiti revolt Restavek Latin America Puerto Rico Trinidad United States colonial maps female partus penal labor Slave codes interregional Human trafficking Virgin Islands Central, East, and South Asia Human trafficking in Southeast Asia Bhutan China Booi Aha Laogai India Debt bondage Chukri System Japan comfort women South Korea Yankee princess North Korea Vietnam Australia and Oceania Blackbirding in Australia Human trafficking in Australia Slave raiding in Easter Island Human trafficking in Papua New Guinea Blackbirding in Polynesia Europe and North Asia Sex trafficking in Europe Britain Denmark Dutch Republic Germany in World War II Malta Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Spain colonies Sweden North Africa and West Asia Iran Libya Human trafficking in the Middle East Ottoman Empire Yemen Religion Bible Christianity Catholicism Mormonism Islam 21st century Judaism Bahá'í Faith Opposition and resistance Timeline Abolitionism U.K. U.S. Anti-Slavery International Blockade of Africa U.K. U.S. Colonization Liberia Sierra Leone Compensated emancipation Freedman manumission Freedom suit Abolitionists Slave Power Underground Railroad songs Slave rebellion Slave Trade Acts International law 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution Related Common law Indentured servitude Unfree labour Fugitive slaves laws Great Dismal Swamp maroons List of slaves owners Slave narrative films songs Slave name Slave catcher Slave patrol Slave Route Project Treatment in U.S. breeding court cases Washington Jefferson Adams Lincoln 40 acres Freedmen 's Bureau bit Emancipation Day Popular culture Kentucky poet Frank X. Walker has written two books of poetry about York : Buffalo Dance : the Journey of York ( 2004 ), and When Winter Come : the Ascension of York ( 2008 ). Both books were published by the University of Kentucky Press. In his novel Little Big Man, Thomas Berger mentions York as having likely been the father of some very dark skinned Indians. The opera `` York '' ( composer Bruce Trinkley and librettist Jason Charnesky ), based on York 's life, was composed for the first international conference on the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and performed at Penn State Opera Theatre. The play `` York '' was created by actor and African drummer David Casteal and playwright Bryan Harnetiaux, and premiered at Spokane Civic theatre on April 29, 2005, as directed by Susan Hardie and performed by David Casteal, ( with performances in New York City in July 2006 ). In commemoration of Black History Month, the play was again presented on February 27 -- 28, 2016 with David Casteal returning in the lead role as York in a one - man performance. Honors A statue of York, by sculptor Ed Hamilton, with plaques commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition and his participation in it, stands at Louisville 's Riverfront Plaza / Belvedere, next to the wharf on the Ohio River. Another statue of York stands on the campus of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Dedicated on May 8, 2010, it does not focus on York 's face, since no images of York are known to exist. Instead, it features fragments of William Clark 's maps `` scarred '' on the statue 's back. Yorks Islands are an archipelago of islands in the Missouri River near Broadwater County, Montana, which were named for York by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The islands were originally named `` York 's 8 Islands, '' but have since become known as `` Yorks Islands '' or simply `` York Island ''. The naming of `` Yorks 8 Islands '' is not found in the narrative journals of Lewis and Clark. Instead it is found in Clark 's tabulations of `` Creeks and Rivers, '' by the entry, `` Yorks 8 Islands. '' The Lewis and Clark Expedition also named another geographical feature for York, `` York 's Dry Creek '', a tributary of the Yellowstone River, in Custer County, Montana. This name was later abandoned, and the creek was renamed `` Custer Creek ''. In 2001, President Bill Clinton posthumously granted York the rank of honorary sergeant in the United States Army. See also List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area List of slaves Stephen Bishop ( cave explorer ), another accomplished African - American slave from Kentucky, renowned as an explorer. Further reading Robert Betts, In Search of York : The Slave Who Went to the Pacific With Lewis and Clark. University Press of Colorado, 1985 ( revised 2002 ). James Holmberg, Dear Brother : Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark. Yale University Press, 2002, 2nd Printing Catherine McGrew Jaime, York Proceeded On : The Lewis & Clark Expedition through the Eyes of Their Forgotten Member. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011 References Jump up ^ `` Montana Medicine Show : York '', KGLT, American Archive of Public Broadcasting ( WGBH and the Library of Congress ), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed September 14, 2016. Available on - site or online in the US only. Jump up ^ The Slave Who Went with Them, Brian Hall, Time, June 2002 Jump up ^ William Clark : Indian diplomat Jay Buckley, University kora Press, 2008, pg 20 Jump up ^ Áhati N.N. Touré ( April 2006 ). `` Fallout over Freedom ''. Lewis and Clark.org. Retrieved March 6, 2008. Jump up ^ * William English, Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778 -- 1783, and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark. Indianapolis : Bowen - Merrill, 1896, p. 49. Jump up ^ `` The Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery ''. United States National Park Service. April 2006. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2008. Jump up ^ Robert Betts ( 1985 ). In Search of York : The Slave Who Went to the Pacific with Lewis and Clark. Colorado Associated University Press. ISBN 0 - 87081 - 714 - 0. page citation needed Jump up ^ http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.dunnlib.simpson.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=3a67c719-8ccf-433b-9715-3faa4c9eeeef%40sessionmgr113&hid=101&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVybCx1aWQsY29va2llJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=6902662 Jump up ^ York of the Corps of Discovery : Interpretations of York 's Character and His Role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Darrell Millner, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Fall 2003, pg 10, 13 - 4, 57. Jump up ^ Zenas Leonard ( 1839 ). `` Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard ''. Retrieved 2011 - 07 - 16. Jump up ^ https://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/living/idx_5.html Jump up ^ `` Lewis and Clark, Inside the Corps, York ''. PBS. Retrieved June 16, 2015. Jump up ^ `` York : The Voice of Freedom ''. Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on March 5, 2004. Retrieved March 6, 2008. Jump up ^ `` York ''. Retrieved March 2, 2016. Jump up ^ `` The Source ''. Lewis and Clark College. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2010. Jump up ^ U.S. Board on Geographic Names, listing for `` York 's Island ''. Jump up ^ Crimson Bluffs Chapter, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc., Dedication Ceremony for York 's Islands Fishing Access Commemoration. Archived May 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Copy of Captain William Clark 's map for July 24, 1805 with `` York 's 8 Islands '' marked in his handwriting. Archived July 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ PBS, `` Inside the Corps '', Article on `` York ''. Archived 2015 - 05 - 07 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ York Islands Lewis and Clark. Jump up ^ `` President Clinton : Celebrating the Legacy of Lewis and Clark and Preserving America 's Natural Treasures ''. FirstGov. January 17, 2001. Retrieved 2010 - 12 - 19. `` York ''. The Encyclopedia of Louisville. 2001. `` York : The Voice of Freedom '' English, William Hayden. Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778 -- 1783, and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark. 2 vols. Indianapolis : Bowen - Merrill, 1896. External links Lewis and Clark Journals, Members of the Expedition ( U. Nebraska ) Who was York ? York at Find a Grave Lewis and Clark website @ PBS Recognizing York : A Community Initiative. Lewis and Clark College, Portland Oregon. York of the Corps of Discovery Darrell M. Millner, Oregon Historical Quarterly 104.3 ( Fall 2003 ) Searching for York, Oregon Experience ( Oregon Public Broadcasting ) Vote 4 York Black Heritage Stamp 2013, Jackson Davis V Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=York_(explorer)&oldid=842989035 '' Categories : 1770s births African - American people American slaves Lewis and Clark Expedition people People from Louisville, Kentucky People from Caroline County, Virginia African - American history in Omaha, Nebraska 19th - century deaths Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Pages using infobox person with unknown parameters Infobox person using ethnicity Pages to import images to Wikidata Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014 Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Edit links This page was last edited on 26 May 2018, at 02 : 29. 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Question: what was the name of clarks african american helper
Answer: York