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 Hours Change

Pompeys Pillar National Monument will be open fewer hours after Labor Day.

The monument will be open daily from 9 am. to 4 pm. from Sept. 4 through Sept. 30. If funding and visitation support extending the season, the site may remain open through October.

The historic site is 25 miles east of Billings off Interstate 94. Admission is $7 per vehicle. This fee includes occupants and is charged 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.

After the interpretive center closes for the season, visitors may still walk in to the site during daylight hours.

Pompeys Pillar National Monument opened for the season on April 30. A new interpretive center and extensive walkway system opened to the public last year, and a paved road, parking lot, entry station, and outdoor amphitheater were completed early this summer.