14th Set out on horse back early returned to Mr. Reds before dark, stayed all night. He promised t make me a gig by my return of a superior strength and convenance. William and Scott spent the night at Merry Oaks Tavern then left early returning to Samuel Redd home where they spent the night of 11 December. The gig Samuel Redd promised to build for William Clark was a two-wheel carriage, nicer built than a farm cart, pulled by one horse. (1)(2)(3) 14 December Dined with Berret (Berrett) Thompkins (4) on my rout and arrived a Tho( mas ) Rogers at Dark Stayed all night Faired well Two small muns live with him. William has left Scott and one horse in Caroline County with Samuel Redd and rode to Thomas Rogers, a first cousin on his mother’s side of the family. (5) He spent the night before riding to Fredericksburg to catch a stage coach to Washington. 15th Saturday proceeded to Fredericksburg- the stage had set out and I am compelled to stay found many friends and friendly people. Dined with Mr. (Joseph) Herndon with many. Mr. Rogers sent a Boy to take my horse to his house. I wrote to my Dear wife. (Note: William Clark is off on the day of the week. 15 December 1809, on the Georgian Calendar, is a Friday not Saturday.) Joseph Herndon was a friend of the Clark family before they left for Kentucky and had received copies of the map and other documents William Clark sent from Ft. Mandan in 1805. (6) The Joseph Herndon family was large, at least 12 children, and on the 16th of December William dined with Dabney Herndon. The corridor of travel from the Redd house would have been todays VA 603 -Landora Bridge Road- VA 639 – Ladysmith Road to US 1 into Fredericksburg. As William Clark traveled to Fredericksburg, did he think about York when they were young and lived in Caroline County? (7)(8) Had they fish in the streams he was crossing or hunt in field he was traveling through? Did William remember the meals or the medical services York provided during the expedition? Of course, we will never know what he was thinking but the fact that York was born in the same area and grew up with William Clark must be considered to understand the full story of Lewis and Clark in which York is significant person. York’s agitating for his freedom had broken the bond between master and enslave servant. Clark’s decision in early 1809 to sell or “hire-out” York had taken place, leaving a vague if not uncertain history of York. (9)(10) Conflicts in cultural thinking and values are clearly seen in the situation with York. In the Anglo-American and some American Indian cultures York was an African slave, chattel owned by Clark and only having a tangible value. However, in other societies York’s black skin made him a highly respected individual. In-addition to William Clark’s statements about York, we have another record from William Bratton, made to Isaac Davis after Bratton had moved to Crawfordsville, IN. “In the party was a colored man by the name of York, the attendant of Captain Clark. Mr. Bratton said that in conferring with or dealing with the Indians York was always given the place of honor by the Indians, they believing, on account of his color, that he was the leader of the party. They carried him about on their shoulders and when making presents of furs and skins to the party they always delivered them into the hands of York”. (11) Credit: Bernard Fisher
Sources
(1) Felton, William, A Treatise on Carriages: Comprehending Coaches, Chariots, Phaetons, Curricles, Whiskeys & C , London,1796, page 46-48. (2) https://books.google.com/books?id=1-gNAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gig_(carriage) (see picture)
(4) Holmberg, James J.,
Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark , Yale University Press, New Haven, 2002, page 240-note 6.
(5) Ibid, page 239, note 5.
(6) Ibid, page 89.
(7) https://www.nps.gov/lecl/york.htm
(8) Betts, Robert B
., In Search of York: The Slave Who Went to the Pacific with Lewis and Clark , Revised Edition with a New Epilogue by James J. Holmberg, University of Colorado Press- Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, 2002, page 84. (9) https://www.hmdb.org/PhotoFullSize.asp?PhotoID=172884 (10) https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/york-s-early-life-before-the-lewis-and-clark-expedition.htm
(11) Bratton-Chisterson, Maud J.,
William Bratton: His Service in Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804-1806 and in the War of 1812 Address to the Daughters of War of 1812, April 31, 1931, page 6. Indiana State Library, Greenwood Library, call # ISLO923 b824 # 1 text; Cox, Amie Kunkle, A Compass Pointing Home: The Adventurous Life of William Bratton of the Lewis and Clark Expedition , Amie Kunkle Cox, 2022, page 215.